UK: Growing number of unregistered Islamic marriages
Meanwhile, in Ghent, Belgium, the local wedding registrar refused to register the marriage of Erdal Akdeniz and Lenya Brahni after they mentioned during the ceremony that they've already had a wedding feast. According to the constitution, the civil marriage should take place before the religious ceremony. The registrar, alderman Catharina Segers (Open VLD), says she needs to look into the issue. This is the second Muslim wedding issue that came up in Ghent recently.
The couple says Seger jumped to conclusions. "She asked why we were so calm and not in a party mood," says Akdezni. "I thought that was a strange question, but answered that there was already a wedding party." Segers started doubting the issue, and decided to postpone the marriage. The couple was appalled. "I still there: there was a wedding party on June 13, but not for Islam, just for friends and family, to show our love, but the alderman didn't listen. She didn't give me the chance to explain it. She heard 'wedding party' and jumped to conclusions. (NL)
-------------------
BBC Asian Network has found that a growing number of young Muslims in the UK are entering marriages that are not legally recognised. This is because couples are having an Islamic wedding without the civil ceremony needed for the marriage to be recognised under British law.
Shaheeda Khan married her fiance in a traditional Islamic religious ceremony, the nikah, at her home in Birmingham.
After the wedding the couple moved to London where they started to build a life and home together but, 13 months into the marriage, Shaheeda realised that her nikah was not legally valid.
''I had to show a marriage certificate when I was enrolling at university. It was then I realised I didn't have one and it came as a big shock to me," she said.
Shaheeda, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said she asked her husband to register their marriage but he was against the idea.
A few months later she came home and found that the locks to her front door had been changed and that she had been thrown out of her home.
"I was homeless. I took legal action but I got nothing," explained Shaheeda. "I had been paying the mortgage on our home but the house was not in my name so I lost everything.''
Eventually, Shaheeda moved back home with her family.
''It was as though the marriage had never happened. It was the worst time of my life,'' she added.
Widespread
Family lawyer Aina Khan says that she is dealing with an increasing number of cases like Shaheeda's.
"It's a rising trend for Muslim couples to have marriages that are not legally recognised," explained Ms Khan.
''The problem is extremely widespread and it's an increasing timebomb because it's affecting mostly young Muslims, who are under 30 or in their early 30s.''
Ms Khan says that the individuals have no legal marital rights if the marriage ends or if a partner dies.
She said: ''My colleagues and I are having to deal with hundreds of cases where things have gone wrong because the wedding has not been registered.
"Because the couples only have co-habitant rights, it is extremely expensive and complicated to use the law to get the individuals any justice once the marriage ends.''
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of Britain's Muslim Parliament, says the lives of many Muslim women are being ruined because their Islamic marriages are not legally recognised.
''It is a major problem in the community," insisted Dr Siddiqui. "But it is very difficult to put an exact figure on the scale of this because there are no statistics. It could be in its hundreds if not thousands."
Shaista Gohir is the head of the UK's Muslim Women's Network. She says the problem arises, in some cases, out of ignorance as many young Muslims believe that the nikah is legally binding.
(more)
Source: BBC (English)
Meanwhile, in Ghent, Belgium, the local wedding registrar refused to register the marriage of Erdal Akdeniz and Lenya Brahni after they mentioned during the ceremony that they've already had a wedding feast. According to the constitution, the civil marriage should take place before the religious ceremony. The registrar, alderman Catharina Segers (Open VLD), says she needs to look into the issue. This is the second Muslim wedding issue that came up in Ghent recently.
The couple says Seger jumped to conclusions. "She asked why we were so calm and not in a party mood," says Akdezni. "I thought that was a strange question, but answered that there was already a wedding party." Segers started doubting the issue, and decided to postpone the marriage. The couple was appalled. "I still there: there was a wedding party on June 13, but not for Islam, just for friends and family, to show our love, but the alderman didn't listen. She didn't give me the chance to explain it. She heard 'wedding party' and jumped to conclusions. (NL)
-------------------
BBC Asian Network has found that a growing number of young Muslims in the UK are entering marriages that are not legally recognised. This is because couples are having an Islamic wedding without the civil ceremony needed for the marriage to be recognised under British law.
Shaheeda Khan married her fiance in a traditional Islamic religious ceremony, the nikah, at her home in Birmingham.
After the wedding the couple moved to London where they started to build a life and home together but, 13 months into the marriage, Shaheeda realised that her nikah was not legally valid.
''I had to show a marriage certificate when I was enrolling at university. It was then I realised I didn't have one and it came as a big shock to me," she said.
Shaheeda, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said she asked her husband to register their marriage but he was against the idea.
A few months later she came home and found that the locks to her front door had been changed and that she had been thrown out of her home.
"I was homeless. I took legal action but I got nothing," explained Shaheeda. "I had been paying the mortgage on our home but the house was not in my name so I lost everything.''
Eventually, Shaheeda moved back home with her family.
''It was as though the marriage had never happened. It was the worst time of my life,'' she added.
Widespread
Family lawyer Aina Khan says that she is dealing with an increasing number of cases like Shaheeda's.
"It's a rising trend for Muslim couples to have marriages that are not legally recognised," explained Ms Khan.
''The problem is extremely widespread and it's an increasing timebomb because it's affecting mostly young Muslims, who are under 30 or in their early 30s.''
Ms Khan says that the individuals have no legal marital rights if the marriage ends or if a partner dies.
She said: ''My colleagues and I are having to deal with hundreds of cases where things have gone wrong because the wedding has not been registered.
"Because the couples only have co-habitant rights, it is extremely expensive and complicated to use the law to get the individuals any justice once the marriage ends.''
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of Britain's Muslim Parliament, says the lives of many Muslim women are being ruined because their Islamic marriages are not legally recognised.
''It is a major problem in the community," insisted Dr Siddiqui. "But it is very difficult to put an exact figure on the scale of this because there are no statistics. It could be in its hundreds if not thousands."
Shaista Gohir is the head of the UK's Muslim Women's Network. She says the problem arises, in some cases, out of ignorance as many young Muslims believe that the nikah is legally binding.
(more)
Source: BBC (English)
No comments:
Post a Comment