Marriage in Islam is meritoriously based (mandub), but not an obligation (wajib). Due to the fact that intercourse outside a marriage and all other physical contact between a man and a woman is forbidden or considered a sin (haram), then marriage is the one way to make it right, or live within the teachings of the practice (halal).

The problem in Britain and in other European countries then is that many Muslim couples get married without the proper civil ceremony for it to be recognized under British law. It´s a major dilemma in the Muslim community, especially in the circumstance of a person desiring to get out of the marriage legally, and claim civil rights under British law.

“The problem is extremely widespread and it’s an increasing time bomb because it´s affecting mostly young Muslims, who are under 30 or in their early 30s,” said Aina Khan, a family lawyer.

Khan and her colleagues have been dealing with these types of cases where the relationship has gone wrong and or failed--and then the overwhelming problems subsequently created due to a lack of awareness and information/education regarding the consequences. It’s difficult to approximate the exact number of cases like this, but Britain is home to more than two million Muslims, so one can do the math and easily perceive the levity of the situation.

A Muslim man can end his marriage by saying: "I divorce you" three times to his wife--and in doing so, it is recognized that they are no longer married. This allows Muslim men to control their wives, often threatening them with divorce for no valid reasons, and in a very unproblematic way as they know their marriage is not legally recognized by the state anyway.

So who then is to blame? Is it the modern day misguided moral compasses that people have, their lack of knowledge or the mosques? Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the head of the Muslim parliament, urged mosques to register themselves in order to conduct civil marriages that can in turn protect Muslim women by having nikah and legal registry at the same time.

Dr Siddiqui feels that religious leaders should take on a bigger responsibility to enlighten the Muslim communities about these incredibly important subjects; to protect and ensure the women whom are unnecessarily suffering and ending up without a home, husband and any legal rights.