Muslim Family Law Ordinance, 1961 personal laws relating to Muslim inheritance, marriage registration, polygamy, divorce, dowry and maintenance of the wives and children. With an object of enacting the law a declaration for amendment of Muslim family law was made on 7 October 1958, and accordingly the President of Pakistan promulgated the Ordinance in 1961, which is better known as Ordinance No. VIII of 1961.

This ordinance suggested formation of a 'Salish council' to resolve disputes and crises within the family. The council comprises three members with chairman of local union council as chairman and two adult members having one from each of the parties. Pourasabha (municipal) chairman in the pourasabha area and mayor or administrator in the municipal corporation area would be the chairman of the salish council.

This law shall come into force on all rules, laws, customs and practices prevailing in the country for resolving disputes within the purview of the ordinance. Section 4 of the ordinance has initiated a drastic change in the law of inheritance by the annulment of la-warish (non-inheritance) system. The earlier law was that the death of any son or daughter of a person before the opening of succession should deprive the children of such a son or daughter from inheritance. The ordinance has repealed this provision, and has incorporated that the children of the deceased in total will receive a share equivalent to the share which such son or daughter, as the case may be, would have received, if alive.

Section 5 of the ordinance imposes a ban on polygamy. This section enforces that a man, without the previous permission of the salish council in writing shall not contract another marriage having already a wife or wives living, and such marriage contacted without such permission shall not be registered under this ordinance. An application for such permission shall be submitted to the chairman of the arbitration council in the prescribed manner, together with the prescribed fee, and shall state the reasons and urgency for the proposed marriage, and whether the consent of the existing wife or wives has been obtained thereto.