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Often religious minority communities in Pakistan complain about their daughters
being abducted and forced to marry Muslims and convert to Islam. These cases
are reported and charges are filed against the perpetrators for abduction and
unlawful conversion. However, when asked about their experiences in Court,
many of the girls and women say the marriage and conversion took place with
their consent and free will, and the charges have to be dropped. The study
explores these interfaith marriages and examines the socio-religious challenges
experienced by Christian girls and women, who converted to Islam and married
Muslim men.
Interfaith marriages are widely believed to bring together people of different faiths
and promote diversity and inclusiveness.Verma and Sukhramani argued that
interfaith marriages are actually a scale of social distance and a prism to
comprehend relationships among different religious groups or communities1
.
Adhering to the feminist position of a woman’s independent right to choose a
partner in a marriage, the study argues that the interplay of religious patriarchies
and cultural conditioning are played out on women bodies both from majority and
minority communities eclipsing women’s right to choice for marriage. The study
contributes in giving visibility to the agency/voices of women, who navigate
through uneven socio-religious terrain for the pursuit of happiness in their marital
alliances. The findings of the study also drew attention to the socio-religious
prejudices, stereotypes, identity crisis, stigmas and class divisions jeopardizing the
lives of women on multiple counts.
The study has employed in-depth interviews as a research tool drawing insights
from the qualitative research method. Exploring the lived realities of 6 Christian
women, who have contracted marriages with Muslim men, the present study
dwells upon a few questions, such as, why are interfaith marriages resented by the
minority community? Do Christian women converting to Islam and contracting
marriages with Muslims face socio-religious challenges in their newly adopted
faith and married life and what are they? Does their Christian identity have any
implications on their conversion?
The study draws on the lived experiences of six Christian women in Lahore,
married to Muslim men for more than ten years. It also examines how interfaith
marriages are perceived by the Christian community. Two male Christian clergy and two lawyers who have offered legal assistance to family members of Christian
women, who have contracted marriages with Muslims were interviewed. The
study dwells upon six thematic areas including interfaith relations, religious
conversion, caste prejudices, gender discrimination, and communal conflicts.
Ayra Indrias Patras. (2021) Intersectional Challenges faced by Christian Women in Interfaith Marriages, Journal of the Research Society of Pakistan, Volume-58, issue 4.
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