Is it That Easy? The Laws of Polygamy in Pakistan
by Nadia Siddiqui
A 24-year-old-man in Multan married two women in 24 h
ours. This incident happened in Multan and the media presented it as spicy news for the viewers. We are living in an age where reality shows provide us entertainment. There is no surprise why as an audience we were not enraged by this incident. After all we are so used to have the dinner served with TV playing a live coverage of the sites where bomb explosion has left mutilated bodies and blood pools. We are a nation immune to surprises. There is no shame in admitting that the entertainment standards have reached a limit that we regularly need to watch on our TV screens the maddening dance of death and the living realities of injustice and victimization. I read somewhere that there lies a deep pleasure for the audience to see torture and suffering inflicted upon others. I think we are seeking pleasure
The reason to raise voice here is not the media and its viewers. In fact I appreciate the resources that brought this incident on the surface and let us examine the laws for polygamy and their implementation. According to the practice of Islamic laws in our country, a Muslim man in Pakistan is allowed to have four wives. It is important to mention here that the formulation of laws and their amendments do not come from people on whom these laws are implemented rather it is Quran and its interpretations that make laws for us. I am therefore not surprised why legal registration of marriage and divorce are loosely practiced. The reason is our preference given to the practice of having two witnesses for the marriage rather than some written documentation. The practice of having two marriage witnesses is interestingly not mentioned in Quran; rather it has been followed since the times of Prophet and Caliphs when legal documentation was not in vogue. Do we somehow think and believe even today that documentation is still impossible in the age of computers?
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Sunday, November 7, 2010
Is it That Easy? The Laws of Polygamy in Pakistan
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