Muslim wives legally invisible

In Islam, women have the right to:

• Worship and spirituality equal to men
• Education and knowledge
• Own, inherit, and manage property and wealth
• Consent to marriage and seek divorce
• Work and participate in public life
• Protection from abuse and injustice
• Custody and respect as mothers
• Modesty and dignity in dress and treatment

Whilst it is far less socially acceptable in western societies, the risk of having a child with your first cousin is equivalent to having a baby over 35 years old.

In Islam, women have the right to:

• Worship and spirituality equal to men
• Education and knowledge
• Own, inherit, and manage property and wealth
• Consent to marriage and seek divorce
• Work and participate in public life
• Protection from abuse and injustice
• Custody and respect as mothers
• Modesty and dignity in dress and treatment

In Islam, women have the right to:

• Worship and spirituality equal to men
• Education and knowledge
• Own, inherit, and manage property and wealth
• Consent to marriage and seek divorce
• Work and participate in public life
• Protection from abuse and injustice
• Custody and respect as mothers
• Modesty and dignity in dress and treatment

In Islam, women have the right to:

• Worship and spirituality equal to men
• Education and knowledge
• Own, inherit, and manage property and wealth
• Consent to marriage and seek divorce
• Work and participate in public life
• Protection from abuse and injustice
• Custody and respect as mothers
• Modesty and dignity in dress and treatment

I am more concerned about 1st cousin marriage's in the Muslim community than i am about Nikah marriages.

How widespread is the ability for women to exercise those rights though?

Why do we see ‘honour’ killings, forced marriage, children being taken abroad for forced marriage and FGM in the name of Islam? This is in the UK.

Then we have the countries where women are stoned to death as punishment for being raped, child marriage is legalised from age 9 (a recent law change in Iraq), women are not allowed education, medical treatment or even to leave the house.

Women in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran etc are not allowed to exercise the rights you list. Women in this country are protected by our legal rights here but some still suffer.

It’s quite mind blowing that you think this is not misogynistic.

I DID do my research and listened to Muslims. That’s what I learned.

Perhaps this should be in the feminism chat, but I’ve just found out something shocking: 60% of British Muslim women are in Nikah only marriages.

Nikah is a religious marriage ceremony. Unlike Jewish or Christian marriages, there is no automatic civil registration.

This means that under British law a Muslim woman with a Nikah marriage is in fact not married at all. If the relationship ends (through separation, divorce, or death), she has: no right to spousal maintenance, no claim to property or pensions, no inheritance rights and no access to the protections of the UK Family Court.

This has been raised in parliament. This has been raised by judges. The 2018 government review found that many Muslim women believed their Nikah marriage had legal standing.

Anything done about it? Nope.

I wondered if this is covered in schools. There is a statutory relationships and sex education guidance that the DfE published which schools must follow. It does require teaching about marriage, but NOTHING in the statutory wording prompts schools to explain the difference between a religious-only ceremony and a civilly recognised marriage.

So, many/most of you might be thinking, ‘So what? It’s none of our business to interfere with others’ religious or cultural practices! Surely it’s the same situation in other countries?’

Nope. The following countries ensure, through legislation, that Islamic marriage ceremonies happen after or alongside civil registration:

France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Finland, Sweden….basically all the European countries….except Britain.

Anyway, anyone else shocked?

@Justiceeternal
does having right in modesty and dignity in dress and treatment mean they got beaten for their clothes?
Qoran says woman hair's is dirty. There's nothing woman loving about that

In Islam, women have the right to:

• Worship and spirituality equal to men
• Education and knowledge
• Own, inherit, and manage property and wealth
• Consent to marriage and seek divorce
• Work and participate in public life
• Protection from abuse and injustice
• Custody and respect as mothers
• Modesty and dignity in dress and treatment

Not shocked but quite horrified. It’s a misogynistic religion.

I was shocked however to learn that:

a) first cousin marriage was not illegal in the UK. I discovered this when the government recently voted down a bill to make it illegal. The government works closely with the Muslim Council of Britain and appears to want to curry favour.

b) 75% of marriages of Pakistani marriages (and a lower but still unbelievable rate of other Muslim origins) are first cousin marriages. This creates a terribly high number of infant deaths (12%) and a high number if serious disabilities. I have heard that in some high Muslim population areas NHS staff have been banned from highlighting this.

https://www.counselling-directory.org.uk/articles/the-truth-about-first-cousin-marriages-in-pakistan

wikiislam.net/wiki/Cousin_Marriage_in_Islamic_Law

Having the government intervene in nikkah only marriages is the same as having them intervene in cohabiting couples. Ultimately, whether a couple is married legally is a matter for them and as long as people are aware of the risks, then they decide accordingly. It’s not an issue unique to Islam only but for many people who think living together as husband and wife makes you husband and wife.

What do you mean by a “slightly different pathway of care”?

Does that result in many abortions or are a far higher number of the live births suffering from congenital abnormalities?

As infant mortality alone is thought to be around 12% this may be quite high (and costly).

From the article also linked in my previous list:

The Children born of cousin marriages face an increased risk of genetic disorders and childhood mortality[2][3] and are thus prohibited in some countries.[4][5] One study estimated infant mortality at 12.7 percent for married double first cousins, 7.9 percent for first cousins, 9.2 percent for first cousins once removed/double second cousins, 6.9 percent for second cousins, and 5.1 percent among non-consanguineous progeny. Among double first cousin progeny, 41.2 percent of pre-reproductive deaths were associated with the expression of detrimental recessive genes, with equivalent values of 26.0, 14.9, and 8.1 percent for first cousins, first cousins once removed/double second cousins, and second cousins respectively.

wikiislam.net/wiki/Cousin_Marriage_in_Islamic_Law

I'm more concerned with 'forced' part of cousin marriage. CM does increase genetic risk, but it's increase from small risk to bigger but also relatively small risk.

I am more concerned about 1st cousin marriage's in the Muslim community than i am about Nikah marriages.