DAR AL ISLAM - PAKISTAN: DO YOU KADIJAH TAKE THIS QUR'AN (YES, THE BOOK) TO BE YOUR LAWFULLY WEDDED JIHAD INSTRUCTION MANUAL ?!?

Married to the Quran
By Mohammed Al Shafey

Islamabad, Asharq Al-Awsat- In Pakistan, an act is taking place in certain provinces that deprives a Muslim woman of her social rights. This act is the so-called marriage to the Quran [known as Haq Bakshish], a practice that is widespread in the Sindh province in the south of the country.

In this type of marriage, young girls are asked to dedicate themselves to memorizing the Holy Quran. Their families then hold a ceremony to marry the girl to the holy book. A girl places her hand on the Quran and takes an oath that she is married to it until death.

The phenomenon has caused much controversy throughout Pakistan as the government is seeking to ban such practice. However, some families encourage “marriage to Quran” to prevent a woman from marrying any person.

Women who are married to the Holy Quran are not allowed to have a relationship with a man or to marry anybody. Moreover, men fear being cursed if they have a relationship with a woman who is married to the Quran.

The trend is more notable amongst the rich and feudal families in Sindh. It was first devised to deny women their rights of inheritance and out of fear of property being passed on to outsiders through the daughters or sisters [i.e. their spouses or children]. According to independent sources in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, approximately 10,000 girls are married to the Quran in the Sindh province.

Pakistani scholars and intellects have stated that in cooperation with the government, sociologists and political activists in the Sindh province, they have exerted much effort towards eliminating this kind of marriage. They point out that such practice aims to exploit religion to hinder women from their natural rights to marriage, children, inheritance and even life.

Pakistan separated from India in 1947 that was colonized by Britain for almost two centuries. The partition took place on religious bases. India was home to a number of religions, denominations and races; however, Muslims and Hindus were the main points of conflict in old India because these were the largest religions in terms of numbers. Due to the mix of religious societies, a number of Hindu traditions have remained amongst other communities even after the sovereign Islamic state of Pakistan gained independence and some argue that the practice of marriage to an inanimate holy object, in this case the Quran, emerged from Hindu practices. However, this is a point of contention as the opinions of historians differ over the roots of this phenomenon. It is likely that this practice is part of the traditions of Sindh rather than Hinduism. In Sindh, which is so far dominated by the system of tribal chiefs or a sophisticated tribal system, a tribal chief owns a large piece of land and has the right to determine the destiny and future of farmers considering that he owns both the land and its people.

Since control and dominance are measured in terms of ownership of the land, the issue of inheritance is very difficult for these leaders, which has brought about odd customs in the province.

Experts have reported that men fear marrying women who have been married to the Quran lest they should be cursed. Accordingly, a girl married to the Quran is destined to remain single until death.

The Pakistani government, particularly President Pervez Musharraf, has spoken strongly against this phenomenon within Pakistani society. Following the government's amendment of the prescribed penalties as part of the Women’s Protection Bill, General Musharraf promised that a new law would be passed to ban and incriminate all those involved in such marriages.

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Pertinent Links:

1) Married to the Quran