CII did its job and you are mad at them, eh?

Earlier this month the good folk over at the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) outlined the many reasons why laws regarding second marriages in Pakistan needed amendment. The main problem? At present, if the first wife doesn’t allow it, you can kiss your dream for a second wife goodbye. CII feels that this arrangement is utterly un-Islamic, since the great divine did allow men ownership of not one, not two, but a grand total of four women.

This isn’t the first time that the CII has cribbed about the marriage laws in Pakistan, and their requests for amendment echo as far back as 2008. Let’s get a little serious here; what exactly is the problem if this law is repealed? This will actually benefit women all over Pakistan instead of creating trouble for them. If this law is fixed to reflect the authentic ideology more accurately then the divorce rate will go down significantly. Right now if a woman says no to a second marriage for her mijazi khuda, she faces dire consequences. To get around to procuring a second wife the husband could go ahead and divorce the first. If she isn’t his current wife, there are no permissions needed from her.

Then there is the problem of being forced into it. And no, this has nothing to do with marital rape, but it has everything to do with domestic abuse. The sky high rates of violence against women (who are wedded to the abuser) paint a grim picture indeed. The CII needs not put in a provision for this one because not only is it a no-biggie in terms of religion, it’s also culturally safe to slam dunk your wife against concrete. You want to tell your husband you won’t let him have another wife? Well, here’s a knuckle sandwich for you. No woman wants a dozen of those sandwiches every day. By the end of her ordeal any battered woman would be willing to help officiate the new lady into her husband’s life, as long as he leaves her alone, perhaps. With this law a man can enjoy two or more wives without having to get rid of, or violently abuse, any of his previous wives. Divorce is severely looked down upon both in a religious and cultural context, so this law’s revision is actually win-win.

When it was first introduced the law seemed like it was a feminist propaganda, and that is all it is. The media, and now social media, are raising huge hue and cry over the news like it goes against everything Pakistanis have believed in all their lives. The truth couldn’t be far from it. Women in Pakistan have been content and happily going along with a number of provisions, why on earth would they care about a second wife? For instance, a woman’s testimony counts as half. So anytime a woman wants to testify in court she either brings a sister from another mister or she has to leave the work to the grownups (the men) who can produce themselves as ONE full witness. Have you ever heard of a woman having issues with this? No, right? Then why would they care about no longer getting to sign their name to a permission form for a second wife?

More proof that women absolutely don’t care about such trivial details is their supposed right to an inheritance in Pakistan. The son’s share is always to be twice that of a daughter’s. Now, this may offend some people, but who are those people? What women care about this? It is the media that is to blame. It’s gone and started this entire fiasco against the poor men down at the CII without actually stopping to ask whether women even care about these problems. This is a country where the large populace of women couldn’t give two hoots about their right to an inheritance even with a gun to their head – and we’re expecting them to revolt against their mjiazi khudas because of a second wife? Not going to happen.

A storm unfolded after the CII announced that underage marriages being illegal was also problematic. Several people pointed out the potential that this could hold for pedophiles and child abuse. These people are only spouting western values – there is no child abuse in a valid nikah between a fully grown man and a young child in Pakistan. Even if we were to entertain this argument, what difference would the revision to the law make? By and large the ages of minors are already misquoted and falsely added to documentations when they are being pulled together in a lifelong bond. If the parents and Qazi involved in the child marriage are caught they can face up to a teeny tiny month in prison and they are fined the large sum of a full Rs1,000. The nikah, on the other hand, stands valid after all this is said and done. There is no question of the dulha’s right over his wife. The CII is only trying to weed out useless laws that have no place in our comfortably patriarchal society.

What is the media going to do next in the name of their shameful gender equality escapades? Start asking why women can’t have multiple husbands if men can have multiple wives? Where will this madness end? A lot of pseudo intellectuals and self-proclaimed liberals have been harassing the CII and making jokes at the organisation’s expense. Some have gone as far as suggesting that the next request from the CII will involve needing legal sex slaves, and to those people we must ask the question: where’s the harm, really? Is it not something that men had a right to from the get go? This country needs to wake up and smell the air, one cannot cherry pick one’s way through divinity, there would be nothing divine left if that were allowed. So, yes, let’s welcome the change in family laws with open arms and wish the CII the best in its future endeavours for the rights of men in Pakistan.