Some Muslims In Sindh, Pakistan, Marry Their Daughters To The Holy Quran: This Bizarre Oppression Of Young Girls Is Simply To Keep Control Over Property

By Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi, New Age Islam

19 February 2022

Marrying a Girl to the Quran Is an Oppressive Practice that Islam can never allow, though Pakistani Ulema do not protest over it. It amounts to blasphemy, but, of course, no Ulema would protest in such cases as it only oppresses females. Can this cruelty with young girls be compared with India's centuries old Devadasi and Sati practices or any other such cruel practices in the world?

Main Points

1.    Nikah is only to be contracted between a man and a woman in Islam, not between humans and non-humans.

2.    The prerequisites of marriage must be fully met in order for the marriage to be considered valid. Because the prerequisites of marriage are missing in this incident, the marriage is null and invalid in Islam.

3.    It is unnecessary to relate the incidence of marrying a girl to the Quran using the Devadasi or Sati systems.

4.    The Pakistani state must succeed in curbing the practice because it denies girls the freedom to marry as provided by Islam, which is a brutal treatment of women that Islam forbids.

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Dear readers, please watch this video report. Moomal is the name of the girl in this video who is wearing a hijab and reciting the Quran. She is reportedly “the bride of the Qur'an”, meaning that “she is married to the Quran” rather than a male human being. Of course, after witnessing and hearing this incident, you would be astounded at how marriage to the Quran is feasible! I myself was startled because I had never heard or read anything about such an incident in my entire life.

You will not find anywhere in the Quran, hadith books, or any Islamic theology or jurisprudential law books of Islam containing the chapters on marriage, even if they are written by Muslim experts of any sects, that it is lawful to marry a girl or a boy to a non-human being. That is, no example of marrying a girl to the Quran can be found in any the history of any Islamic texts.

On the contrary, from the definition of marriage [Nikah] given in each book, you will know that Nikah in Islam is a relationship that can only be contracted between a man and a woman, or a male human being and a female human being, with whom Nikah is permissible in order to promote human reproduction and establish love and mercy.

But this is complete nonsense! A girl is compelled to marry to the Quran rather than a male human being! The surprise, of course, lasts longer. In Islam, there is no basis for marrying a girl to the Qur'an; rather, it is a highly contrived practice, a dreadful type of ignorance, the inclination of which can only be found in an environment that is ignorant of the teachings of the Quran and Sunnah. We will first deliver a report on this unethical practice, followed by a brief presentation on the Islamic notion of marriage.

The English Transcription of the Video Clip

Narrating her painful story, Moomal, who was married to the Qur'an [a marriage that is not even imagined in Islam], says:

“There were no wedding processions, no drum celebrations, and no henna ceremony. The cleric, too, was not present. The only thing that had changed was that I had gotten a new dress to wear. My father then placed the Quran in my hands and simply stated, “We are marrying you with the Quran. You must swear that you will not think about anyone else or consider marrying again. You're now married to the Quran.”

Her father didn’t want her to marry outside their conservative Syed tribe. But there was no marriage proposal from a tribe member that her father deemed suitable. Moomal spends most of her life at home doing household chores.

She says, “We never go outside because we spend the whole day in a veil. We don’t even know what is happening outside. We do household work, even if some females come to our home, we don’t come out [to see them].”

Rights groups say marrying a woman to the Quran is abusive. They say the practice is used to stop redistributing property and land with daughters and sisters.

Shazia Jahangir Abbasi, a female Social Worker, says, “Male family members, either a brother or father, know that if she [daughter or sister] gets married, they would have to give her share of the property and land. Therefore, they [make family members] want to declare them a ‘Bibi’ or ‘Sati’ [which means] married to the Quran and tell them they will always live with them at home. The female victims accept that to save the honour of the father, brothers and the family.”

Marriage with the Quran is illegal in Pakistan and has no religious obligations. But it is hard for authorities to identify victims.

Hadi Buksh Butt, an advocate of Sukkur High Court, says, “A girl becomes a ‘Bride’ of the Quran’ when she gets married to the Quran. They [the family] mentally pressure or brainwash the girl so much that they [the victim] don’t want to admit [to this crime]. The issue of marrying a girl to the Quran exists here [in this province]. To stop this, [the Pakistani] state, especially the Sindh government must take proactive measures.”

Moomal hopes to help other women in her position. She says, “What happened to me should not happen to any other girl in the world. I don’t want anyone else to go through the same thing that happened to me.”

Marrying a woman to the Quran is an abusive practice in Pakistan's southern province, Sindh. Many feudal lords wed their daughters or sisters to the Quran to renounce their inheritance rights. One 'Bride of Quran' shares her story. pic.twitter.com/9EjI0L2vNE

— DW Hotspot Asia (@dw_hotspotasia) February 15, 2022

Dear readers! You must have been stunned as you saw the video clip and surmised the nature of the problem from the preceding transcribed text. Words must be flying in your head that a Muslim community with a common understanding of the Quran and Sunnah could never imagine such a pointless ceremony, so how can all of this be possible?

Allah Almighty revealed the Holy Quran to His beloved Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), who delivered it to mankind in order for them to recognise their true Creator and Eternal Lord and do devotional and pious actions in all areas of life. In every aspect of life, the Quran clarifies the difference between good and evil. As a result, the distinction between what is prohibited and what is permissible is clear. The contrast between Halal and Haram, permissible and impermissible, is as evident as the separation between untruth and truth and black and white. Yes, Halal and Haram can exist in diverse locations, but it's impossible to see them combining into one.

In the same way, in order for the marriage to be lawful, it is necessary that the person performing the marriage be a man and another person with whom the marriage is being performed must be a woman with whom the marriage is permissible. On this occasion, it is meant to say that marriage is a pure and legitimate relationship between a man and a woman that promotes the human race. The condition for marriage to be lawful is that there should be a man on one side and a woman on the other side with whom marriage is permissible. Marriage of a human being to a non-human thing is definitely against the conditions of marriage stated in Islam.

In Islamic law, the term 'Shart' [condition] refers to a matter that exists outside the actuality of a thing but the existence of that thing depends on it. If an object requires a condition in order to exist, that thing cannot exist unless the condition exists. Consider the fact that the Quran and Sunnah both clearly state that ablution [Wuzu] is a condition [Shart] for prayer [Namaz/Salah]. The presence of prayers cannot be realised without ablution since prayers cannot be acknowledged without ablution. Similarly, there are some conditions of marriage that must be met in order for the marriage to be regarded valid, such as prudence of man and woman, and their declaration and consent [ijab and qubul] to be made in the presence of two male witnesses or one man and two women. The marriage cannot be declared valid until these conditions are met.

As a result, it is evident that marriage is invalid without a condition [i.e., marriage must be contracted between a man and a woman through the words of declaration and consent]. Those who forcibly marry their daughters to the Qur'an should be aware that such marriages are never valid because marriage is to be contracted only between a man and a woman, not between a human being and the Quran which is a non-human being.

While watching the video report about the futile process of marriage with the Qur'an on Twitter, I came across various comments in which some commentators compared the incident to the Hindu Sati system, while others compared it to the Devadasi system. This comparison, in my opinion, is inaccurate. The Sati and Devadasi systems are completely different from this incident and have been banned in India. However, there are conflicting perspectives on the Devadasi system. The scholarly piece "Devadasi System: An Ancient Practice of Casteism and Sexism Redefined" by Abhidha Gupta was discovered in this regard.

Mr. Gupta has discussed extensively the Devadasi system in his paper, as he says,

“Devadasi system was an integral part of the Hindu religion in Ancient India. It is a system in which a female before reaching the age of puberty is married or dedicated to a temple, temple priest or some local deity. It was a common feature of all temples in Ancient India but continues to exist even today in some parts of India. It was considered a holy practice. The word ‘Devadasi’ is made up of two Sanskrit words ‘Deva’ which means God and ‘Dasi’ meaning a ‘female servant’. It is a system of female prostitution with religious sanctions. Most of the girls who were forced into this practice belonged to low castes such as Dalits. They were married off to temple priests and were sexually exploited by them and the rich and affluent Zamindars, traders and other men. They were forced into this practice in the name of religion and God, they were made to believe that it is a form of Service to the almighty. In the present times, these women have lost their auspicious and sacred status and are forced to live marginalized lives. Their problems are given negligible recognition and require strict enforcement of their social and political rights. This paper makes an attempt to provide suggestions to control this practice and bring about a change in the social outlook of the society.” See  Devdasi System: An Ancient Practice of Casteism and Sexism Redefined by Abhidha Gupta

On the contrary to what is commonly understood or misunderstood about the Devadasi system, a website of  Indian Institute of Legal Studies says,

“The system of devadasis was misunderstood by the Mughal rulers and Europeans because they were totally unaware of the idea of art as an offering to God. As per their understanding girls dancing and singing in the temple are doing that for the purpose of entertainment of rich people and they were no better than prostitutes. But this religious practice was deteriorated during the medieval period due to the destruction of a large number of temples. This phenomenon leads to degrading the status of Devadasi’s in society and because of their financial problem they became mistresses of a royal and rich man. Any girl child born from that union was also dedicated to the temple and boys born were trained as musicians. This led to the religious prostitution in temples of India which continues to date. The devadasis were exploited by the rich, powerful and upper-class people and on the other side their economic needs were not permitted them to leave this practice and ultimately they were driven to the valley prostitution. The first Law which declares this system illegal was enacted in the year 1934 in the name of the Bombay Devadasi Protection Act. Further the Madras Devadasi (Prevention of Dedication) Act, 1947 outlawed this practice in Madras. In 1988, the devadasi system was completely outlawed all over India. What needed to be done is to think seriously about the rehabilitation of devadasi’s in society so to allow them to lead their life with human dignity.” See    Devadasi System in India

Dear readers! We were discussing the incidence of the invalidity of marrying a girl to the Qur'an when we were abruptly required to discuss the Devadasi system, which differs in many ways from the incident of the marriage with the Quran, and above all, there is no need to compare this incident with the Devadasi and the Sati systems.

The girl in the marriage incident with the Quran is a nominal “bride of the Quran”, for whom there is no way to meet her bridal requirements. What she has to do after this marriage is that she has to recite the Quran for the rest of her life, and she cannot think about anyone else, and cannot marry again. She is merely a fictitious bride, but she has been stripped of her right to marry any human creature.

Marriage with the Quran is not a reality in Islam, and it has never been deemed lawful among Muslims. The storey you're hearing about the marriage with the Quran is actually about a marriage in which there is no sexual intercourse and the girl is treated as a nominal wife who is forced to labour at home all day. Those who arrange such marriages are ignorant of the teachings of the Holy Quran. They actually forbid their daughters from marrying a male gender and deny them their female bridal privileges, which is terrible cruelty. Preventing a girl from marrying a male and denying her basic human needs for the rest of her life is a major offence in Islamic view.

What is the definition of Marriage [Nikah] in Islam? The Quran itself provides the answer in a very lovely way. Allah says:

“And among His signs is that He created spouses for you from yourselves for you to gain rest from them, and kept love and mercy between yourselves; indeed in this are signs for the people who ponder.” (30:21)

The Holy Qur'an effectively delivers the lesson of guidance in this verse, stating that men can find peace in their female spouse and that a man's sexual partner can only be a woman. According to the Holy Quran, entirely restraining a woman from it is cruel. Depriving someone of their right is referred to as Zulm [oppression]. Every human being has the right to seek relaxation from his or her mate, as granted by Allah Almighty. A marriage contract is required in order to do this. It is also known from the preceding Quranic verse that marriage is not just a process for satisfying sexual cravings and emotions, but also an act for establishing love and mercy.

According to the Islamic Shariah, a female can marry only a male with whom marriage is valid. Any human being cannot marry the Holy Qur'an, a tree, a stone, a piece of paper, a pen, or jinn, for example. This is just rubbish and a blunder. If someone forcibly executes such a marriage, the marriage is declared null and void in Islamic Shariah.

The government in places where such frivolous rites are practised should succeed in putting an end to the practise as soon as possible since it is cruel conduct towards females that Islam does not condone.

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A regular Columnist with NewAgeIslam.com, Ghulam Ghaus Siddiqi Dehlvi is an Alim and Fazil (Classical Islamic scholar) with a Sufi background and English-Arabic-Urdu Translator.

URL:     https://www.newageislam.com/debating-islam/sindh-pakistan-marry-daughters-quran-/d/126408

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