Global Affairs:International (wk#1)

In response to the article "The women who sleep with a stranger to save their marriage"

By Athar Ahmad, BBC Asian Network & Victoria Derbyshire programme

5 April 2017, From the section UK

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-39480846

A BBC investigation has found that a number of online services are charging "divorced" Muslim women thousands of pounds to take part in "halala" Islamic marriages. Women pay to marry a complete stranger, have sex with them, and then divorce them, so they can get back with their first husbands who divorced them. Sometimes the "divorce" occured by just repeating one word three times "Talaq, talaq, talaq".

Some muslims believe in a practice called "Triple talaq" which they believe ends and Islamic marriage instantly. It is where a man says "talaq", or divorce, to his wife three times in a row, therefore divorcing her. However this practice is said to be banned in most Muslim countries but still occurs. And the exact number of how many women are "divorced" this way in the UK is not possible to know.

Farah (not her real name) was "divorced" by her husband in this way, which lead her to seek out Halala - which is a controversial practice accepted by a minority of muslims who also believe in Triple Talaq, they believe it is the only way for a divorced couple to remarry.

Farah says "I knew of girls who had gone behind families' backs and had it done and been used for months. They went to the mosque, there was apparently a designated room where they did this stuff and the imam or whoever offers these services, slept with her and then allowed other men to sleep with her too."

However the Islamic Sharia Council in East London, which regularly advises women on issues around divorce, strongly condemns halala marriages.

Khola Hasan says halala services are "abusing vulnerable people", and "a sham."

"It's haram, it's forbidden. There's no stronger word I can use. There are other options, like getting help or counselling. We would not allow anyone to go through with that. You do not need halala, no matter what." Khola adds.

Farah in the end decided against going through a halala marriage and getting back with her husband.

"Unless you're in that situation where you're divorced and feeling the pain I felt, no-one's going to understand the desperation some women feel." Farah says. "If you ask me now, in a sane state, I would never do it. I'm not going to sleep with someone to get back with a man. But at that precise time I was desperate to get back with my ex-partner at any means or measure."

I find this article so disturbing and am happy to hear most Muslims are against it, and that the Islamic Sharia Council in East London forbids it. No matter what culture or beliefs we hold to, divorce is a very difficult thing to go through, and often cause mankind to make desperate and rash decisions. Community support and accountability is so key. I would like to see resources put together visibly online, easy for women to find who are searching for these halala services, to see another perspective, and have free access to counselling. I would like to know what actions the Sharia Council, or the police is taking to find, shut down, and prosecute the men involved in such practices also.