DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: HAQ-BAKSHISH (LITERALLY: GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO MARRY)

Girls being ‘married off’ to the Qur’an

KARACHI: Seven years ago, Zubaida Ali witnessed a bizarre ceremony in her ancestral village in Sindh province of Pakistan where her cousin Fareeba was married to the Holy Qur'an.

"It was extremely odd and, of course, very tragic. Fareeba, who is a very pretty girl and was then around 25 years old, was dressed as a typical bride, with red, sequined clothes, jewellery and mehndi patterns on her hands and feet but over all this she was draped in an enveloping dark chador. There was music and lots of guests but no groom,'' Zubaida, 33, is quoted as saying by IRIN, the UN information unit in a report.

The tradition under which Fareeba was 'wed' is known as 'Haq Bakshish', which literally translates into giving up the right to marry. Families use Haq Bakshish to prevent property leaving the family when a girl weds someone who is not a relative.

Fareeba, who can now never wed a man, spends most of her time studying the Qur'an or stitching. She is a 'hafiza', or one who knows the Qur'an by heart.

The Haq Bakshish tradition, most common in Sindh, but also followed in parts of the Punjab, is most often practiced by feudal families, often "Syeds."

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