Social organization
Maldivians see themselves as calm and peaceful. The Tangier explorer Ibn Battûta described them as far back as the 14th century as beings who "know neither fighting nor war, and whose weapons are prayer". Throughout their history, the Maldivians have offered little resistance to foreign colonization, with the exception of the guerrilla war against the Portuguese invasion in the 16th century. The Maldivian police, for example, are not equipped with lethal weapons. For a long time, Maldivians lived in seclusion on their islands, with extremely limited population movements. On the smaller islands, dhoni owners are at the top of the social ladder. With their boats, they hold the key to employment, trade and transport. Without them, the island would remain isolated from the rest of the archipelago. Next in line are the maavadi meeha (shipwright), the hakeem (doctor), the blacksmith and the artisan jeweler. At the bottom of the social ladder is the raaveria, the coconut plantation keeper who harvests the sap from the trees to produce syrup. The representatives of the Muslim community, imams and muezzins, occupy a special place, respected by all members of the community. They are the guarantors of spiritual life and the holders of knowledge. The family is the foundation of society. Traditionally, it is the only place where men and women live side by side. The man is the head of the family. He makes all the important decisions, eats before his wife and children, and is responsible for providing for his family's material needs. The women look after the home and the children. They weave coconut fiber ropes to be used on the dhonis. Girls help their mothers run the household from the age of 6, while boys enjoy greater freedom until the age of 12. They then go fishing with their fathers. In this Islamic republic, only religious marriage is recognized. It is pronounced by the cadi, in the presence of the groom, his father, the bride's father and two witnesses. The bride's presence is optional. In the Maldives, marriage is rarely celebrated, except in the most affluent circles. A man can marry up to 4 wives, but rarely more than 2, as he has to support them and provide a home for each. As cohabitation is strictly forbidden, marriage has become a formality of some kind to allow an affair. The Maldives has the highest divorce rate in the world, with almost 11 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants per year. By the age of 30, 50% of Maldivian women have already been married 4 times. In order to limit the damage, the Maldivian government has put an end to the custom of thalaaq. All a man had to do to repudiate his wife was say the word once and inform the cadi. Since 2000, men and women have had the same divorce rights. They must go before a court, which will attempt reconciliation and will only grant a divorce if this is impossible. Despite the ban on sexual relations outside marriage, the reality seems to be more nuanced. Sharia law, the Islamic law, provides for exile for men and house arrest for several months for women. If an illegitimate child is born, the woman is caned 100 times and imprisoned for up to 3 years. The man is punished by caning and exile only if he admits the facts.
Education
Compulsory since 1968, school enrolment has raised the Maldivian literacy rate to 98%. Each island has a public school that guarantees education up to the end of secondary school. For high school, you have to go to the main island of the atoll, which often represents a sacrifice for less well-off families, as education is not free in the Maldives. In addition, Maldivians go to a Koranic school to learn the Koran and Arabic from an early age. These are exclusively recitation and memory exercises, as Maldivians do not speak Arabic. English has been part of the public school curriculum since 1960. Maldivian children are expected to be able to express themselves in either Divehi or English from the age of 7. Due to the population explosion, Maldivians attend school in half-days, to ensure a rotation of classrooms. There is only one university in the country, based in Malé. It opened its doors in 2011 and offers higher education geared to the country's needs: education, health, tourism, IT, civil engineering, law, commerce, journalism, divehi and English. Curricula do not exceed Master's level. As a result, the children of wealthy families leave to study abroad, in Sri Lanka, India, Egypt, Australia and Europe.
Habitat
Maldivians do not own land. It belongs exclusively to the State. Nevertheless, every Maldivian has the right to build a house on the island where he or she was born, or on the island where he or she has lived for more than 6 years. Plots measuring 15 x 30 meters are allotted free of charge, and houses can be inherited. The oldest houses can be recognized by their crushed coral walls. This technique is now banned, and houses are now built with concrete bricks. Palm roofs have been replaced by corrugated iron or imported tiles. With few openings, the houses are often dark and rudimentarily furnished. A few hammocks and benches, which also serve as beds, and an udhoali, the swing that hangs in front of the house or in the courtyard, make up the essentials. The richest families own a dhoni, the traditional Maldivian fishing boat. It's built from scratch by the local carpenter, who endlessly reproduces an age-old model. Only the materials have changed somewhat. Imported wood has replaced coconut for the hull. Motorization replaced cotton sails in the 1980s.
