Marrying to Obtain Citizenship and Fake Marriages

The unfortunate result of this ordeal was that this woman of mixed Newland and Irish origin, left Islam, believing that this is what Islamic marriage is, when it is clearly not.  She states that, “lots of Arab men use Islamic marriage to get girlfriends until they are able legally or financially to marry the woman they want.  It is double standards, hurtful and blasphemous, yet [she believes] it is tolerated and encouraged [by various groups].”  Another consequence is that there is distrust amongst the Muslim community and there is a worry especially amongst the women, that any man, who approaches her without the said documents, could potentially be a married-for-papers prospect.  Therefore, the result is much suspicion of and mistrust towards individuals who might be otherwise honest and well meaning.

Part of the above dilemma seems to be a lack of knowledge of what marriage actually is, and confusions for what to look for in a suitable marriage partner.  For example, Na’ima B. Robert another Muslim convert, tells us about her experience and opinions of Islamic marriage:

“We didn’t have strong family influences and so were quite autonomous in our dealings…until I started seeing examples of that autonomy going horribly wrong.  In the community that I moved to the majority of girls’ families, being either non-Muslim or non-practising, were not involved in their decisions.  So I witnessed sisters marrying brothers without checking them out fully.  I saw them getting taken in by appearances.  I saw them giving up their rights – to the dowry they wanted, to the contract, to maintenance – because they did not have the knowledge (or the guts) to insist on what is rightfully theirs…that made me think seriously about the role of the family in an Islamic marriage and how it is there to protect you.” (p. 242).

 “The couple also have to meet and see whether they like each other.  The mahr (dowry) is a gift that the man gives his bride-to-be as part of the marriage.  Unlike in many other cultures, this gift belongs to her and not to her family…. therefore the true Islamic ‘arranged marriage’ is halfway between the restrictive, manipulative forced marriage and the free-mixing, dating, cohabiting world.”

In essence then the problem is that Islamic law is not being applied correctly and so these women are not able to obtain their full rights and get what they deserve.  Currently there is no Islamic state or Islamic leader to ensure that Islamic law is implemented correctly and that those individuals’ rights are given, therefore, it is entirely necessary to spare more heartache and broken families by bringing Islamic law into practice fully.  This will grant women, and men, their full rights and would lead to marriages and various other issues being taken seriously.  In regards to the marriage for papers dilemma, there needs to be some revision into how British citizenship is granted it should be through means other than marriage, since through this means, it is now being abused.