Transnational Pakistani Connections by Katharine Charsley

Author:Katharine Charsley [Charsley, Katharine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Ethnic Studies, General, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9781134605453
Google: BzsVAgAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-12T04:55:16+00:00

5

Married but not married

The divisibility of weddings and the protection of women

This chapter will detail ways in which legal pluralism, migration and individual circumstance lead to the stretching out of the marriage process through both the addition of British legal requirements, and the possibility of separating the Pakistani wedding into its constituent parts. In particular, two ceremonies will be highlighted: the nikah and the rukhsati. In Pakistan, in common with some other Muslim societies, the religious marriage ceremony (the nikah) may be held some time before the rest of the wedding, and I will describe some reasons why this occurs. In the transnational marriages that have been the subject of my research, however, delaying the rukhsati (when the bride leaves her natal home to go to her in-laws’ house) also appears to be common practice. Taking up the theme of risk from the preceding chapter, I will argue that the primary motivation for this delay is to protect brides from the risks involved in transnational marriage. The chapter concludes with a discussion of these dangers, and of the inadequacies in Pakistani practice of Quranic provisions for the protection of women in marriage through the payment of mahr.

Legal pluralism and the multiplication of marriage rituals

Pakistani weddings tend to be lengthy and complicated affairs consisting of a variety of events normally spread over several days. These most commonly include three main festivities: the pre-wedding mehndi celebrations, the barat (fêting of the groom’s party), and the walima. The signing of the nikah-nama, the Islamic marriage contract, takes place on or before the barat. When the nikah is carried out in Pakistan, it is recognised as a legal marriage by the British immigration system, but when carried out in Britain the nikah alone does not fulfil British marriage requirements. Not only are officiants and venues often not registered for marriages, but Islamic marriage declarations can be made by the couple in separate rooms, while in English law the bride and bridegroom must both be present to recite set vows (Yilmaz 2002: 348). Hence, if a couple marry in England, they will usually have a civil ceremony so that their marriage is legally registered in the UK. Since the early 1990s, changes in legislation have allowed more mosques and community centres to become registered as venues for weddings, and some mosque officials have been empowered to wed couples on behalf of the registry (Yilmaz 2002: 348), but many couples still employ the services of a separate registrar.

Yilmaz (2002: 343) draws attention to this legal pluralism in England, where in particular, marriage, divorce and polygamy are dealt with very differently by Muslim and English law. ‘Muslim law,’ he writes, ‘is still superior and dominant over English law in the Muslim mind and in the eyes of the Muslim community; and many Muslim individuals follow Muslim law by employing several strategies in England.’ Where ‘classic’ legal pluralism refers to a colonial and post-colonial context in which foreign law was superimposed on pre-existing indigenous practices, this is an

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.