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British-Pakistanis never get tired of staying away from the headlines, that’s why we’ve brought you another episode where you too would be fascinated. In the United Kingdom, a very famous Pakistani-British Imam has become the talk of the town, for a very odd reason.
No, he did not call for Jihad or become a conspirator, but he married.. out of turn, out of age. A very famous Imam and naatkhwan, Qari Javed Akhtar Chisti, Chairman of the International Naat Association, secretly married a girl from Sheffield, who is 1/3rd of his age.
According to reports, Qari Javed had established good terms with the 23-year-old girl’s father and brother, and he used to visit their house very often. One thing lead to another, and the next thing that happened was the nikkah, but not with the family’s consent.
According to the girl’s brother, Qari Javed somehow forced his sister to marry him, while on the other hand, in the girl’s own statement she says that inside her house she felt confined and chained, while marrying Qari Javed was an option that she took with her heart and own will.
The girl also says in her statement that Qari Javed is a very good husband and treats him correctly, the couple are now living in a rented apartment in Manchester, because Qari Javed’s wife of 30 years, along with her daughters, have kicked him out of his own house.
The question of interest in this particular story is raised by the girl’s brother who asks that is a girl allowed to marry someone without the consent of her parents (wali)? If yes, then the marriage is absolutely legal both through law and religion, if not, then what happens next?
The girl has had one engagement ended from the boy’s side and this marriage was her own choice. Islam does not put restrictions on age when it comes to marriage, so there’s not much the girl’s brother can do here.
