What kind of tradition is this Quran bride in Pakistan?

BY- Rajeev Choudhary

There was no groom, no wedding procession, no feast, no mehendi ceremony and no drummer, just a sky-high book was placed in her hand and the girl got married to it. After this, call the girl’s groom or husband, she will remain a Quran for life. It may sound strange to you but these stories are from Pakistan. Where there are thousands of brides of Quran, crying and tired of carrying the burden of sorrow and sadness.

How is a girl imprisoned at home for life without marriage? You may find it strange to hear this, but this is a truth which has become the destiny of Pakistan. One day a teenage girl named Mumal was sitting in the house. Suddenly her father placed the Quran in Mumal’s hands and said, “We are marrying you with the Quran. You have to swear that after today you will not think about anyone else or consider marrying again because from today you are married to the Quran.

Mumal, who till some time ago was dreaming of her marriage and wanted to set up her own house. Suddenly Mumal understood that now she would have to complete her life in one room of the house. That room will be her home as well as her prison. In fact, this is not the story of just one mumal, but there are so many mumals in Pakistan who are living this hellish life.

No matter how much the world boasts about modernity, no matter how much Maulana, while sitting in TV debates, beats the drum for the freedom of women imprisoned in burqa in Islam! But the report from Pakistan is telling something else. Actually, there is a word in Arabic language “Haq Baksheesh” which translated in Hindi means to give someone’s rights i.e. to give him his rights. But under the guise of “Haq Bakshish” there is still a popular and terrible practice among the family members of Pakistan Syed or Syed caste, Syed Muslims who consider themselves the descendants of Mohammed, the male members of these families arrange the marriage of their daughter in the sky. This is done so that they can control the property which legally belongs to the girl and will become her husband’s after marriage.

When this marriage or Nikah takes place, some girls go mad, some become indifferent, some slowly die. Trapped in the hellish web of some inhuman tradition, she lives a life of suffocation. After getting married to Quran, these girls become like waiters in their own house, taking care of the children of their siblings, serving the family, that is, they become slaves in a way, who do not live for themselves but for others. Is. Whose lives are mortgaged by their families.

At the age of around 13 or 14 years, they are first forced to marry Quran, after which no boy above 14 years of age is allowed to go near them. This means that the life imprisonment of the brides of Quran starts from here.

After this she never goes out, has to spend the whole day in the veil. They don’t even know what’s happening outside. They do household work, even if some women from outside come to their house, they are not even allowed to go out to see them.

This practice is common in Pakistan but is considered illegal by law. But till date the law of Pakistan has not reached these areas of Pakistan. Shazia Jahangir Abbasi, a female social worker, had raised her voice against this some time ago. Then he said that the male members of the family, be it brother or father, know that if the daughter or sister marries, they will have to give her a share of the property and land, hence, they declare these girls as wives whose Meaning of Quran is married girl..and victimized girls accept it to save the honor of father, brothers and family.

The Arabic international newspaper Asharq Al Awsat says there were an estimated ten thousand Quran brides in Sindh in 2007, although the Haq Bakshish tradition carries a seven-year prison sentence under Pakistani law, but no such cases have been reported. does not dare to do so, due to the fact that the families involved belong to the Sayyid caste, which claims that its members are direct descendants of Mohammed.

This is why even if police take action, Quran brides are hidden, making it impossible to get official numbers. Very few cases come to light. For example, in 2011, a Quranic bride named Shahneela Naz ran away from home and married Fahadh Amin. When this happened, Shahneela Naz was sentenced to death for violating the Haq Bakshish Code. Then the scared Shahneela Naz organized a press conference in Lahore and raised her voice against the Haq Bakshish Code or should we say, pleaded for the safety of her life put.

Then Shahneela Naz told Daily Times that half the women in her family are married to Quran, they are treated worse than servants. And they are forced to take care of children and animals. One evening his whole family came to Shahneela Naz’s room, sat on her bed, opened the Quran and said: From today onwards this is your husband. Shahneela Naz managed to escape the same night and reached someone Fahad and got married in the court but No news was ever revealed as to what happened to Shahneela Naaz after this interview.

The Haq Bakshish system is claimed by members of the Sayyid caste; if a suitable boy is not found in their tribe, girls are married to the Quran. After all, why should he marry his daughter to a ‘lower caste’ Mullah? Because no person from lower caste can match their status. People of Sayyid caste do not even allow small lower caste Muslims to enter their houses. Like last year in Meerut, 18 year old Sania wanted to marry her lover, but the lover was a small caste Muslim, hence 18 year old Sania was murdered by her father and brother.

Exactly similar is the case with the Quran bride of Sayyid caste. Instead of taking life, they make us slaves of the house. Some time ago DW published a video story of a Quranic bride named Mumal. Additionally, The New Humanitarian in 2007 published the story of 25-year-old Fariba, who was married to the Quran, and her seven-year-old sister, Zubaida, told her story to IRIN. He told that it was his wedding but there were no guests in the house. There was neither a groom nor a wedding procession. Suddenly her family came and placed the Quran on her hand saying that from today onwards this is your husband, another wood Zubaida, who was 33 years old when she told the story, and that her marriage was extremely strange and, of course, very sad, she She was dressed like a bride, in red, sequin clothes, jewelery and had ‘Mehndi’ applied on her hands and feet but it was such a wedding that she was pushed into a deep darkness for a lifetime.

According to a documentary by Purisrar Duniya on this practice, no matter how much the girl dislikes this practice, her family does not care. The family simply writes some verses from the Quran on a paper and ties it around the girl’s waist, then she is told that the Quran is her husband… In a small number of cases, girls approach the courts, but due to the snail’s pace of the legal system It takes years and sometimes decades to resolve the dispute. By then she grows old and becomes just a slave of the family… There is never any international debate on such issues nor is the Human Rights Commission awakened because she is trapped all her life under the guise of a religious book.

Rajeev Choudhary