Barter marriages and other customs deprive women from their right to inheritance

ISLAMABAD, May 27 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Pakistan’s landowners are reverting back to century old customs and traditions to save their family land from being further divided at the cost of female members of the family who are often deprived of their basic rights.

Barter marriages, so-called ‘marriages to the Qur’an’ and other customs are followed to deprive women from their right to inheritance. These customs are especially popular among the rich, influential feudal families of the province of Sindh and Punjab where every effort is made to prevent female members from having their (legal) share of the family property so that it does not go out of the family in case of their marriage.

One of the most practiced ways of saving land from division is to prevent women from getting married, or if necessary, arrange their marriages in a way to keep the family land intact.

Rich landlords in Punjab and Sindh follow these traditions only to save their lands from going into the hands of other families. According to un-Islamic inheritance laws, female members of the families have the right to lay claim to their share of land once they get married. This law divides the family land and everything is done to stop this division.

In Sindh and southern Punjab where the feudal system is stronger, female members of the family are “married” to the Qur’an, although this custom has nothing to do with the Islamic religion. In a ceremony, the woman is pronounced to be the “wife” of the Qur’an after she is asked to accept the Qur’an as her “husband”. Local marriage registration officer is also invited to witness the ceremony and record the event in the official books.

The “bride” of Qur’an is honored as a religious saint and she lives for the rest of her life as a virgin and is considered free of worldly desires.

But as feudal lords in these areas are putting their male children through higher education, marriage to the Qur’an is losing popularity. At least this is no more the first choice. The feudal lords now prefer Vatta Satta, local name for barter marriage. Landlord families take each other’s females as brides with the promise that they will not claim the females’ legal share of inheritance.

These marriages are often unmatched. Saleema Soomro, 13 year old daughter of a rich landlord, was married to a 34-year-old man of another tribe because the sister of his husband was married to her brother. By doing this barter arrangement, the two landlord families ensure that in-laws of their daughter would not claim inherited property.

Commoners As Well 

But Abdul Tawab Sheikh, a researcher on this issue says the Vatta Satta custom is not only practiced among the feudal lords but commoners also practice this for various reasons. “One most important reason for such barter marriages is to guarantee the safety and honor of one’s daughter,” Sheikh, who has extensively researched on the menaces of Pakistani feudal system, told IslamOnline.net.

In some cases, Sheikh said barter marriages are part of a package deal which sometimes includes pieces of land, cattle and cash.

The Islamic Ideological Council has termed the marriage with Qur’an un-Islamic and suggested to the government to pass legislation to declare this practice illegal and punishable.

According to renowned lawyer and social worker Sana Ullah Zahid, since the country’s supreme body to safeguard the Islamic laws has termed the wedding to the Qur’an un-Islamic, these marriages now take place in secrecy.

“Now it is not as open as it used to be. They do it secretly now,” Zahid said about the marriage ceremony which used to be celebrated as a normal wedding in the past. Zahid said many of the country’s famous politicians with feudal backgrounds practice the same tradition at home and talk of human rights when they come to Islamabad.

 “This is one of the most brutal violations of human rights,” Zahid added.

Unacceptable Bid`ah

Commenting on the matter, prominent Muslim scholar, Dr. Muhammad Abu Laylah, Professor of Islamic Studies & Comparative Religions at Al-Azhar University, Egypt, denounced the tradition and declared it un-Islamic.

“This so-called ‘marriage to the Qur’an’ and calling the Qur’an a ‘husband’ and the virgin Muslim a ‘wife’ of the Qur’an has never been heard of throughout Islamic history. This is a totally unacceptable bid`ah (innovation). These non-Islamic practices can be traced to Jewish legends and perhaps other religious legends or superstitions. Such practices shall pave the way to more innovations and violations in Islam,” Dr. Abu Laylah said. 

“It is amazing that a Muslim can think of such tricky ideas to support and justify his personal desires and whims. Every Muslim should know that nothing can be hidden from Allah; our intentions, like our actions, are known to Him and shall be weighed for us and thus we shall be rewarded or punished accordingly.

“Concerning the inheritance and the deprivation of female Muslims from it, we say that it is totally forbidden by Allah and it is severely punishable in this world and the Hereafter. In order to emphasize the right of women to inherit Allah named the Surah in which the inheritance shares are nominated by Allah as Surat an-Nisa’ (The Women’s Surah).

“Allah did not leave it to us to distribute the estate of the deceased but He Himself divided it in minute details because man is greedy by nature and always desiring to accumulate money and acquire wealth and deny other people’s right,” he added.

“As for the barter marriage, it’s known as ash-shighar, which means that two men (for example, two brothers) marry two women (for example, two sisters) from the other family under the condition that there is no mahr (dower paid to the woman). Such ash-shighar marriage will only go through if the “exchange deal” goes through, and this is reason enough to invalidate the two marriages altogether,” the prominent Muslim scholar concluded.