Respondent Accounts
This author’s doctoral research focused on the narrative accounts of British Muslim respondents, shedding light on the wider socio-legal realties they faced, upon the realisation that their nikah-only marriages were not legally enforceable.
Extracting with great care their stories also revealed their impression of the law, how it ought to have applied to their cases and how it failed to protect them, as British citizens. Presented below are two contrasting case studies from my doctoral research dating from 2013. All names are pseudonyms.Cyra is a British born Pakistani who was raised in London. She was brought- up with a strong sense of her cultural heritage although was not particularly religious, akin to her parents. Following her university studies she began working in the financial sector and met her husband on a matrimonial dating website for South Asians. The couple got engaged very quickly after meeting and then dated during this period for 18 months. The nikah took place at Cyra’s parents’ home and was conducted by am imam. The marriage broke down within 12 months. No religious divorce has been either given by the husband or sought by Cyra.
Dalia is a British born Pakistani who was also raised in London. Her family is religious although culturally liberal. Dalia worked in the higher education sector (non-academic) and then went on to set up her own high street business. She met her husband through mutual friends and they got engaged within a month of meeting. Their nikah marriage took place a restaurant, conducted by an imam. The restaurant was an approved premises, therefore an approved building for the purposes of celebrating a legal marriage. The couple had one child and their marriage broke down after 10 years. The matter proceeded to the High Court and the nikah marriage was declared a non-marriage. Following this Dalia began civil proceedings and received a modest financial settlement after two years of litigation.
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