Nikah: The Invisible Marriage
Published: 1 August 2024
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WOMEN'S ISSUES
Pre-face
This time last year, I had the opportunity to interview Dr Myriam Francois, presenter of “The Truth About Muslim Marriages”. My Inclusion team and I published the interview in our Inclusion Journal, available at LUU WILS, but much information was left unexplored due to the journal's mission to condense many issues into a single publication.
As it stands, Muslim marriages (Nikahs) are not formally recognised under the law of England and Wales. As far as religious marriages go, only Christian and Jewish marriages are recognised under this jurisdiction. All other marriages require a civil registration to be officiated under the eyes of English law.
To many Muslim women, this can come as a shock, especially since the Nikah is not only sacred, but official in Shariah law, and the governing laws of many Muslim countries.
This publication aims to explore the legal issues and impacts surrounding the dissolution of Muslim marriages and the limitations of the law. Furthermore, it endeavours to offer information on the options available to couples under this jurisdiction.
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Introduction to Dr Myriam Francois
Dr Myriam Francois is a respected scholar, journalist and writer who specialises in Middle Eastern politics and matters concerning Islam. As the founder and CEO of mpwr productions, she endeavours to empower the voices of minorities who have been, historically, silenced and ignored.
With a strong academic background and PhD in Islamic Movements from Oxford University, Dr Francois brings a nuanced understanding to the contemporary socio-political discourse surrounding Islamic marriages and Muslim women. She has sought to address key issues in the Muslim world, notably contributing to leading media outlets such as the BBC, Channel 4 and Al Jareeza.
This interview focused on her presentation of the award-winning documentary, The Truth About Muslim Marriage (Channel 4, 2017).
This publication aims to address, in greater depth, the issues covered within that interview, and clearly outline the points made into a single publication. Although the interview took place last year, a revision has been made to ensure total value can be gained from its publishing.
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The UK Jurisdiction and Legal Frameworks of Islamic Marriages
Couples naturally go to Imams for marriage advice, as they are often the first port of call for advice on all matters related to Islamic guidance. Indeed, Imams are equipped to deal with matters relating to the Qu’ran and Islamic textuality so should be sought for such queries, but this does not necessarily guarantee expertise in the legal frameworks of marriage in the UK jurisdiction. This exclusion in the UK law can lead to unregistered marriages and misunderstandings which, when issues arise, can leave women with very little in terms of legal and financial protection.
In the interview, Dr Francois emphasised that the expectation placed on Imams to understand the legal framework of marriage law in the country is disproportionate, both in terms of their qualifications and circumstances. Contextually, many Imams travel to the UK from other countries where, as Dr Francois explains, the Nikah (Islamic Marriage) is instantly recognised in the law of that country following the Imam’s officiation. She provides the example of French law, which requires a couple to be civilly registered and provide certification to the Imam before the Nikah takes place.
As Dr Francois highlights, for many Imams, English is not their native language nor are they necessarily familiar with the country in which the Nikah is located. With gaps remaining in English law that prevent the Nikah from garnering official jurisdictional recognition, this burden ought to be placed on the governing system that fails to cover all bases. This systematic failure cannot possibly be placed on an Imam or the community that they serve.
As Dr Francois contends, “We do not expect particularly vulnerable groups to necessarily know their rights – those rights must simply be there and be guaranteed.”
In presenting the case that dominant religious communities in the UK (Christianity and Judaism) have their marriages instantly recognised in law following a religious ceremony, Dr Francois shines a light on the inconsistency presented in what is, arguably, a severe oversight in governmental reform.
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Challenges Faced by Imams, and The Importance of Female Scholars in Islamic Communities
Following this, I asked Dr Myriam how differences in cultural beliefs between foreign Imams and British Muslims may present difficulties when seeking guidance. Imams traditionally accept the role of counsellor, advisor and moral authority within their respective communities. Dr Francois reiterates the issue with Imams often coming over from different countries, which will inevitably have different cultural ideologies and practices. Furthermore, without a clear understanding of another person’s reality (as Dr Francois states, “we are now trying to get advice from someone who is sat behind a screen 15,000 miles away”), the advice offered – no matter how well-intended – may severely lack contextuality and resources which may only be accessed through a proximate network of religious support.
Before colonialism, Francois notes, there were centres of religious learning where both men and women were educated and taught. This meant that women also had the opportunity to access positions of religious and moral authority in their communities. In her own words, “Those centres had local representatives who were invested in your local community who knew you, you knew them, you could go to them for assistance, they understood the society, you, your family and the area. So, when they were providing advice to you, it was always very tailored to the context you were dealing with.”
Despite this hurdle faced by Imams, Dr Francois maintains that many Imams are wary of cultural differences and the integral patriarchal manifestations presented within every culture. She explains that these Imams are “cognisant of the fact that religious discourse can be manipulated to justify patriarchal practices and tend to be more willing to recognise that behaviour rather than condone it or overlook it.”
That being said, Dr Francois points out that within Islam, the rudimental job of an Imam is to lead the congregation and prayer. Their role outside of this is contingent upon the presence of Sheifs/Sheifas (learned individuals/scholars). Dr Francois defines these individuals as religious academics who dedicate their studies to the text and can provide more nuanced guidance to their communities. Unfortunately, the availability of these individuals is limited, particularly when it comes to Sheei-fas. This gap, Francois suggests, is “the missing piece of the puzzle.”
Dr Francois goes on to stress the importance of the integration of multi-skilled advisors in religious communities to effectively support individuals. She highlights that Cambridge Muslim College is now beginning to train Imams who are scholarly in both faith and other subjects, such as sociology, psychology, and other academic sectors.
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Revealing the Feminist Nature of the Text
I went on to ask Dr Myriam about how Muslim women can integrate feminist principles into their own circles, and her answer was as follows:
Firstly, Dr Myriam called for a retrieval of Islamic principles from the text that are inherently feminist in nature. As all Muslims understand Islam is perennial by nature, it ought to embody a certain flexibility to maintain relevancy in the contemporary climate.
Dr Francois recognises the diversity of the British Muslim Community (with Muslims from the Middle East, North Africa, Southeast Asia, Albania etc), and she observes that “those different cultures, particularly post-colonial cultures, have been through processes of cultural humiliation in which in my view patriarchy is often more deeply cemented by the need to create a sense of redeemed respect, often off of the back of women.” Francois proposes that some cultures have inherited a “deeply hierarchal” reading of the text, which ought to be revisited to ensure that the Muslim faith does not become “ossified and irrelevant by sticking to principles that are no longer going to facilitate the full emancipation of all humans.”
“The more you engage with women and textuality, the more you can see the extent to which your subjectivity affects how you read the text. Once we acknowledge that, it becomes much easier to see that, when we have relied for so long on male readings and historical male readings, we continue to regurgitate historically contingent interpretations as opposed to more contemporaneously relevant interpretations.”
Francois pays heed to Dr Sofia, (@sofia_reading on Instagram) who offers a reading of the text through her perspective as a woman.
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How to Optimise your Engagement in Religious Discourse
Finally, I invite Dr Francois to offer some closing thoughts on participation in religious discourse. She warmly encourages female Muslim students to actively participate in textual interpretation and reminds us Islam “does not place intermediaries between individuals and God”; the Faith allows women to directly access the Qur’an and its meaning. Furthermore, she spotlights Aisha bint Abi Bakr, wife of the Prophet, and an incredibly respected scholar in Islam; she taught men just as she taught women, and there was no exception to that.
“You, as a Muslim woman, have a direct connection to the text. Any Muslim woman may read the text and access it directly, which of course is what we all do, but perhaps we need to hear from women as authority figures who are not relegated to exclusively female communities.”
Dr Francois invites men to join the conversation in recognising the moral and religious authority of women’s voices in the interpretation of the text, “unless men come and actually join the circles, and join the conversation, then you can end up with two completely different world views.”
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Criminal Law Protections and the Non-Recognition of the Nikah
To add further commentary to this matter, I will expand on how the non-recognition of Nikahs in the law of England and Wales fosters barriers in providing sufficient criminal protections to Muslim Women when it comes to issues of intimate partner violence within an Islamic marriage.
Without formal recognition, individuals who exclusively marry via a Nikah may not be able to access the complete inventory of legal protections available to victims under the Domestic Violence Act 2021.
Even though the accused
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Concluding Remarks
In this interview, Dr Francois covered topics of legal reform, advocated for better support for Imams, promoted female scholars and invited us to re-engage with the text in a way that upholds the Islamic principles of feminism. She emphasises the importance of living alongside modernisation, whilst ensuring that all individuals, regardless of gender, are supported and empowered within their faith.
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Citations
The above essay utilised the following links throughout, which have been listed below and hyperlinked to the original authors:
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