Column 18 of the Nikahnama Is Usually Crossed Out — Epoche B1
Pakistan's standard marriage contract, the nikahnama, has a numbered row, column 18, in which the husband may delegate to his wife the right to divorce. The form comes from the rules made under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance of 1961, and the row is already printed on it. The right is old: Islamic law has long allowed a husband to hand this power to his wife. Nobody has to invent it, ask for it, or fight for it. It arrives with the paper. A lawyer in Lahore tells the story of one such form, and inside her story there is a second one. At the signing, an uncle takes the pen and draws a line through row 18 before the bride has read it. Somebody says it is only a formality. The bride is nineteen; the room is full; the food is waiting. She signs. The consequence arrives eleven years later. The marriage has ended in every way except on paper, and she wants out. Had the row been left as printed, she could have pronounced the divorce herself, registered it, and been finished. Instead she must go to a family court, ask it to dissolve the marriage, usually give back her dower, the money settled on her at the wedding, and wait through hearings and adjournments. The uncle's line took two seconds and cost her two years. This is why a printed option and an available one are not the same thing. A right that must be claimed out loud, in front of the people arranging the wedding, ends up belonging to whoever holds the most authority in that room. The law can put the row on the page. It cannot put the pen in her hand. References Government of Pakistan (1961). Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961 (Ordinance VIII of 1961). Government of Pakistan. Government of West Pakistan (1961). West Pakistan Rules under the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance, 1961, Form II (Nikahnama). Government of West Pakistan.