Amra Bone, UK’s first female Sharia Council Judge has recently expressed astonishing views on Sharia marriage stating that, “The government cannot — ask Muslims not to have more than one wife.” The statement came in the light of the accelerating number of Sharia marriages being polygamous.
According to expert reports, as many as 100,000 couples are living in such marriages, which are not valid under the UK law, and bypass register offices. A leading Muslim family lawyer expressing her concern on the increase of polygamous marriage stated that many Muslims under the age of 30 are becoming more religious. Other factors include finding a way around the expectation of no sex before marriage and a fear of British family courts, which presume that assets should be split equally. Women in polygamous “marriages” are not recognized as wives under British law and if and when the relationship sours, the woman is left with no legal claim to her investment in the household and is often forced to return to her abusive husband.
It is worth mentioning here that under Islamic provisions there are certain prerequisites to be fulfilled before entering into a polygamous arrangement and that it seeks to drastically restrict this practice preventing it from being used as a cover to exploit female rights.
