Wedding Trouble As UK Muslim Marriages Not Recognised

February 3, 2010

Author: Divya Talwar

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8493660.stm

A growing number of young Muslims in the UK are entering marriages that are not legally recognised, BBC Asian Network has found. This is because couples are having an Islamic wedding without the civil ceremony needed for the marriage to be recognised under British law.

Shaheeda Khan married her fiance in a traditional Islamic religious ceremony, the nikah, at her home in Birmingham.

After the wedding the couple moved to London where they started to build a life and home together but, 13 months into the marriage, Shaheeda realised that her nikah was not legally valid.

''I had to show a marriage certificate when I was enrolling at university. It was then I realised I didn't have one and it came as a big shock to me," she said.

Shaheeda, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, said she asked her husband to register their marriage but he was against the idea.