A local teacher has approached police officials, after she began receiving death threats for marrying outside the faith.
According to police officials, Khokhar Ki resident Majeeda Bibi married a colleague Bashir Masih last year without informing her family. “She told us that she and Bashir had a court marriage and then fled the area,” said Police Inspector Javed Bhutta. “Majeeda said that she had been on the run for several months after her husband was attacked when one of her relatives found out where he lived,” Bhutta said.
On Saturday afternoon, Majeeda sought police protection after she had begun receiving death threats from her family members. Majeeda said that she had been on the run since August last year after her family began chasing the couple.
“Several months later, one of my cousins found my husband and beat him nearly to death. He was in the hospital for three months and then he fled to live with one of his relatives for his protection.
We decided that I would follow a little later,” she told police. Majeeda said that she sought refuge with a distant relative but that recently she had been exposed and her brother and cousins had begun calling her and threatening her life. “I think they know where I am and are coming for me so I approached police,” she said.
Majeeda also told police officials that her family had lodged several fake cases against her husband. She said that they accused him of rape, kidnapping and of stealing property.
“All the charges are fake they simply want police to help them find him so they can kill him,” she said. Majeeda said that she had already refuted all the cases against her husband in a magistrate court.
“She has charged Javed Saleem, Mushtaq Daood, Shahid Bhatti and two of her brothers Ali and Kashif of having planned to kill her and her husband,” Bhutta said. “We have lodged her case and are searching for the accused. Meanwhile, she has refused to tell us where her husband is and says she doesn’t know herself,” he said. Bhutta said that on Sunday, police officials shifted Majeeda to a Darus Salam for her protection.
Majeeda said that she was fearful her relatives would begin attacking her in-laws in order to discover her husband’s whereabouts. “My father-in-law and sister-in-law have already shifted away from the district,” she said. Majeeda also threatened to commit suicide along with her husband if they were not given justice. She has appealed to the chief minister and Chief Justice for assistance in this regard.
The names of the victims have been altered to protect their identities
Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2011.
COMMENTS (54)
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@Asin - Yes. Our hinterland is still a patriarchal backward place where it is a crime to have been born a woman and worse still... a low caste woman. We have crazy honor killings, dowry related deaths and what not. I doubt if there is a single comment in this article from Indians that we are better than you guys. The only argument is that we are not defending these practices on religious basis as some claim here or worst still on a constitutional basis that they are supported by law of the land..
Excellent reply Pradeep. Couldn't have said it better :)
Beenish & RK: I salute the both of you who have the guys to come on such a public forum and declare you are atheists. Seriously, there must be so many more like us....but fear for their lives which is why they never go public. A piece of advice though. Never argue with theists, they will being you down to their level of ignorance. Best to just let ppl believe what they're happy believing!
@ Akhtar,
great logic. You want to harm/torture people in this life to satisfy your religious belief- and u expect you willl be rewarded in your afterlife. It is a pathetic thought process. If you look at the history of Sikh gurus (I told u I am atheist), they had only one purpose. Service to mankind. They were fighting trecherous rulers like Aurengazeb and saving innocent people and their lives from being transfered as slaves (mostly from your present day pakistan) to central asia. They never bothered to look at the religion of any person before helping him. They even helped muslims when requested. They died /martyred helping poor and needy.That is respect earned- not demanded-like in Islam. They helped needy. So people across all religions and castes come to golden temple and pray them. Even Hindus from southern parts of India come and pray at this place. If the gurus had only one agenda- fight for their religion- they would have been shunned by everybody.
Islam needs a lot of Ideological correction, they way it looks.
@Infidel Humanist
It’s highly entertaining to see that a large portion of the comments are about the legality of the issue. Talk about completely missing the point. Next on the agenda: Should blasphemers be stoned to death or hanged?
You are star.
Bashir Masih should convert to Islam and settle the issue. After all so many Hindus in India convert to Islam for second marriage. Kishor Kumar married Madobala, Dharmendra and Hema Malini converted to Islam for marriage, Nargis married Sunil Dutt and he converted to Islam. So there is a solution and pragmatism demands that both should consider it.
@Khan: In the Qurán, Allah (subhanaho wa taála) has specifically given permission to Muslim men to marry women from the People of the Books, by inference, women have not been given approval to marry non-Muslim men. The reason that scholars attribute to this difference between men and women is that the children have to follow the religion of the father. Since Islam is the later religion, preference should be for the father to be a Muslim.
The statement that religion is a personal matter is absolutely incorrect, and has its origins in the west where the Church has been separated and put in a corner. Islam imposes an obligation on all Muslims of ämr bil ma'roof, nahee anil munkar". If a brother or sister does something against the dictates of shariah, we are duty-bound to tell them.
Under Indo-Pak state law, a Muslim woman can marry a non Muslim man. Her marriage is all but void, rather it has a few constraints, e.g downsized dower, limited inheritance and oral divorce on the spot. Otherwise this marriage is legal and can be done by a simple magistrate once the girl records her statement under 164 Cr.Pc,1898.
Our state should give Majeeda and her husband protection. They are adults. Can't they decide for themselves? I know a Muslim woman is not allowed to marry outside religion but men are. Seriously can't we develop some flexibility regarding this? Why every rule for women? Muslims scholars should debate and develop a consensus regarding this. As for the fear of children turning out to be Non Muslims, this could happen with a Non Muslim mother as well. Frankly mother's training effect a child more than a father do. I say leave it to the couple and their children.
@Thinker: I am a Muslim but its their personal choice ... It shows the level of ignorance in our society seeing people imposing religion by force ... Prophet PBUH in his last address said that every one is equal regardless of their gender & color of skin etc ... Then why would one think that Men can marry non muslim but women can not ?? Isn't it our hypocrisy in side our hearts?. Why not check how it works in the real world instead of living in your dream land ... Children always adopt their mother's behavior & religion its a known fact .. and anyways ... Religion should be treated as personal matter so If one does a sin there are Hell & Heaven for a reason IF you believe in them then should mind your own business. Their acts are not harmful any one else therefore, no one has a right to point fingers at them.
It's highly entertaining to see that a large portion of the comments are about the legality of the issue. Talk about completely missing the point.
Next on the agenda: Should blasphemers be stoned to death or hanged?
Last time I checked Pakistan was an Islamic state. Have things changed recently? I
I can now hear zamid hamid accusing this as a cia conspiracy to convert innocent muslim girls
wow, so many bigots commenting on the illegetimate nature of her marraige. I am sure that she is a better judge for herself than all these " kabab mein haddis".
The fact that marriage between willing people is being claimed illegal by others who are in way related or affected by their union is pukeworthy. The comments against the couple reeks of patriarchal hegemony.
The concept of a governing body is to be advantageous to the rest of the people. When it starts to judge the citizens inferior when they were the creators, just like a religious person saying they are superior to their creator and imposes their own will that is not in the interest of the people as a whole, rather than making things better for all citizens, it is no longer serving its original purpose. That, or an unexpected crack in the foundation has occurred that should be sealed up quickly because it will, with no exceptions, spread. People should not allow themselves to be ruled, harmed and limited by their very own creations. If any "leadership" believes otherwise, it is not truly in their character to lead or efficiently assure the welfare of the people. The protector of the people from a metaphorical enemy ends up protecting the people by harming them just like that enemy. But, it's even worse than what that "enemy" does. The governing body, even if acting negatively towards the citizens will never compare itself to that enemy, so they will continue confidently in their abuse and expect thanks for it.
@Awais , CB Guy, Anonymous
Please read the news again,
“She told us that she and Bashir had a court marriage and then fled the area,” said Police Inspector Javed Bhutta.
Are you accusing the Court of having performed an illegal marriage?
@intelligent: and what are your sources. Men and women are different and have different rulings for them in Islam. Marriage is null and void.
Thats the tough one! I would urge both to leave the country if they can. If they cannot then the man probably would need to convert if he wants to save his life. Although even by doing that I do not know if he would be safe.
Some of the comments reek of ignorance, hypocracy and bigotry. The court decided based on law to sanction the marriage. So wake up bigots !!!
Islamic Gherat starts and ends on Women.
I so agree with Sheeraz khan and it is completely illegal for muslim girl to marry a non-muslim. She is committing a severely punishable crime.
Brothers and sisters please do care while passing comments on religious or sessitive issues, i suggest if you are not very clear about anything better to keep silent.
Is this justice. Love is love where they go and has no boundries.
Barbarians still living in the 7th century. Sad.
The Express Tribune = the West's propaganda machine for Pakistanis.
@Khurram: It is allowed. A muslim women can marry Ahl-e-Kitaab. you need to do some research bro and please use the authentic sources instead of using random mulanas hadiths and getting to a conclusion.
@CB Guy: That's because Pakistan is not based on Islamic laws
Only Muslim men can marry outside the faith not women. The reason is that normally the next generation's religion, name, culture and so on is determined as per the father's and not the mother's. If a Muslim woman marries a non-Muslim then the next generation will be non-Muslim too. To avoid that Muslim women cannot marry outside of faith. That is not so hypocritical but rather its being practical and the religion is trying to protect itself.
@Cynical: Religion is part of an individual. It is part of their identity and makes them who they are. An individual is a mix of his/her family, religion, culture, nation, identity, gender so on and so forth. To separate everything is being fantastical. There are many children who I have seen end up with no religion at all because they are confused about which faith to follow, their mother's or their father's. The point is that there are many practical problems and if you think about it Islam does give guidelines to counter them. Many may find them to be offensive but they are practical and can help solve many problems in our society.
For every one Follow the islam What our religion says about it
@khurrm It is true for bothBut it is o.k. if a Muslim man marries a non muslim woman. What a hypocratic lot.
Marriage is between two individuals, not between two religions.
@Jeddy, that is not true for Women.
It is IGNORENCE that is the root of all EVIL.
it is only a crime when a muslim converts to any other religion.as long as non-muslims convert to islam everything is fine but if a muslim decides to leave the fold of islam all hell breaks loose. This forced and coerced keeping of muslims withing the fold of islam reeks of double standards and religious hypocrisy. i myself am an atheist who was born and raised a muslim by my parents,The amount of ridicule,humilation ,threats and emotional blackmailing i had to face when i left islam i wish no one has to face.no religion is perfect and our people should get out of their sick obsession with religion. religion has already taken 40,000 pakistani lives ,do we need to lose more?
Yes marriage with Ahl-e-Kitaab is legal and allowed i.e. only with Christians & Jews.
We muslims always take everything for Men, some of our Jahil Ulema consider that only a Muslim Man can marry a Non-Muslim Woman, in Islam it is allowed for both
Marrying people of the book is not a sin - it is a perfectly legitimate marriage.
it is not legal for a muslim girl to marry a non muslim.
@Awais:
yes it is legal,should always be legal for a person to marry another,religion should not be allowed to interfere in matters of marriages.Why shouldn't a muslim girl marry a non-muslim? i am happy that this girl had the courage to follow her heart and not to be intimidated by the islamic fascists.All the best wishes to her and her husband for a happy life free from the cluthces of religious extremism.
@Awais
Did you ever ask yourself if it is legal to rape a Hindu woman and convert her to Islam(irrespectiveof her martial ststus). Open your bigoted eyes. That is the choice of the lady. In pakistan, If a muslim lady marries a christian, she means she is serious about it. None of your business.
why is it that when a non-muslim is converted to islam after marriage it is seen as a great victory and the bridegroom is treated as a 'mujahid of islam' who has increased the numbers of the 'believers' and has decreased the numbers of the infidels? but if the same thing happens where a muslim leaves the fold of islam he/she is treated as a pariah worthy of death?
why these double standards,why are muslims leaving islam deemed to be deserving of being beheaded but hindus or christians leaving their religions for islam are welcomed? why are people not allowed to leave islam? why are we kept muslims by force,by the threat of violence and death??
Marriage is a choice between two adult consenting individuals and none else have a say. A State that cannot provide this freedom of choice as guaranteed by every Constitution to its citizens or Security to these couples must dissolve itself. The issue is freedom of choice and jobless bigots who wish to cash in and convert it into an issue of Religion should not be allowed to poke their dirty noses into other peoples private space.
Feel so sorry for both they have knocked door's of the wrong men for Justice . May God protect both of them and her in-laws.
BY Pakistani law, a marriage as such in this case has no legal value.
Is it legal for a Muslim girl to marry a Non Muslim Man ?