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There always is a way out, it seems, for those who want to keep a harem of "wives" and escape prosecution under anti-bigamy laws. A senior religious figure has been quoted saying almost 4,000 Muslim men in Britain have got as many as four wives. They have taken advantage of a loophole in the anti-bigamy laws.
These men go through nikah ceremonies and avoid registering their marriage. These marriages, conducted by an Imam, are legal under the Islamic law. But, they are invalid under British law. Such wives have no recourse to the laws here, under which they have rights to their husband's income or share in the family house if the marriage breaks up.
In some extreme cases women brought from abroad, specially from Bangladesh, to marry a British Muslim man have been, according to the Times report, victims of the so-called honour killings by their families after being sent home when the relationship failed.
The situation has become so grim that seniors in the community here are taking step to reduce the number of polygamous relationships. A guideline issued by the Muslim Parliament advises against weddings ratified only through nikah. "No Muslim should seek to contract a marriage without the full protection of the law of the land."
It cautioned that wives were most likely to be harmed, for they would have the status of an unmarried partner under British law, which is forbidden under Islamic laws. So they would have no recourse to either. Worse, the children would be illegitimate.
Mufti Barkatullah, a judge on the Shariah Council was quoted saying that some mosques had clamped down on polygamy by checking that couples wanting to marry were not already legally married. But even then the Council has to deal with 600 applications every year for polygamous marriage.
Dr Ghyasuddin Siddiqui, leader of
the Muslim Parliament cited the case of a man with five wives. The
Home Office clarified that it "remains a criminal offence in the
UK for man to contract a second marriage while he is lawfully married
to his first wife".
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