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Fiona de Londras, University of Birmingham, UK
Anna Mäki-Petäjä-Leinonen, University of Eastern Finland
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Vanessa Munro, University of Warwick, UK
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Florence Shako, Riara Law School, Riara University, Kenya
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A Critical Feminist Analysis
Zainab Batul Naqvi
Bristol University Press
University of Bristol
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© Bristol University Press 2023
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ISBN 978-1-5292-0969-3 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-5292-1081-1 ePub
ISBN 978-1-5292-1080-4 ePdf
The right of Zainab Batul Naqvi to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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- 1Introduction: Polygamy, Law and Women’s Lives 1
- 2Consciousness and Disruption in Critical Postcolonial Feminism 23
- 3Polygamy in England: Tracing Legal Developments 46
- 4History and Conflict of Laws in Overseas Polygamy 73
- 5Tensions in Religion and Culture 101
- 6Complicating Harm and Gender Equality 130
- 7Religion, Recognition and Marriage Law 158
- 8Final Thoughts and Reflections 186
The Law, Society, Policy series publishes high-quality, socio-legal research monographs and edited collections with the potential for policy impact. Cutting across the traditional divides of legal scholarship, Law, Society, Policy off ers an interdisciplinary, policy engaged approach to socio-legal research which explores law in its social and political contexts with a particular focus on the place of law in everyday life.
The series seeks to take an explicitly society-first view of socio-legal studies, with a focus on the ways that law shapes social life, and the constitutive nature of law and society. International in scope, engaging with domestic, international and global legal and regulatory frameworks, texts in the Law, Society, Policy series engage with the full range of socio-legal topics and themes.
Rye v Fuliambe (1602) Moo KB 683
Porter’s case (1637) Cro Car 461
Middleton’s case (1638) Kelyng 27
William’s case (1641) March 101
Dodgson v Haswell (1730), PRO DEL/412
Andreas v Andreas (1737) 1 Hag Con (App) 10n; 161 ER 636
Vigevena and Silveira v Alvarez (1794) 1 Hag Con (App) 8n; 161 ER 636
Lady D’Aguilar v Baron D’Aguilar (1794) 1 Hag Ecc 773; 161 ER 748
Dalrymple v Dalrymple (1811) 2 Hag Con 54
Deane v Thomas (1829) Moo & Malk 361; 31 Rev Rep 738
R v Millis (1843–44) 10 Cl & F 534; 8 ER 844
Thelwell v Yelverton (1864) 16 CB NS 813; 143 ER 1346
Hyde v Hyde and Woodmansee [1866] LR1 P & D 130
In Re Bethell Bethell v Hildyard (1887) 38 Ch D 220
Choo Eng Choon v Neo Chan Neo (1908) SSLR 120
Chetti v Chetti [1909] P 67
Cheang Thye Phin and Others Appellants v Tan Ah Loy (Since Deceased) [1920] AC 369
Khoo Hooi Leong Appellant v Khoo Hean Kwee Respondent [1926] AC 529
Khoo Hooi Leong Appellant v Khoo Chong Yeok Respondent [1930] AC 346
The Sinha Peerage Claim HL Deb 12 December 1935 vol 99 cc 224–32
Srini Vasan v Srini Vasan [1946] P 67
Risk (Otherwise Yerburgh) v Risk [1951] P 50
Matthew Olajide Bamgbose v John Bankole Daniel 1952 14 WACA 111–15
Matthew Olajide Bamgbose, Appellant v John Bankole Daniel and Others, Respondents [1955] AC 107
Muhammad v Suna 1956 SC 366
Ohochuku v Ohochuku [1960] 1 WLR 183
Sowa v Sowa [1960] 3 WLR 733
Khan v Khan [1962] 3 FLR 496
Khan v Khan [1963] VR 203
Shahnaz v Rizwan [1964] 3 WLR 759
Imam Din v National Assistance Board [1967] 2 WLR 257
Crowe v Kader [1968] WAR 122 Indyka v Indyka [1969] 1 AC 33
Radwan v Radwan (No 2) [1972] 3 WLR 939; [1973] Fam 35
R v Sagoo (Mohinder Singh) (1975) 61 Cr App R 191
Nabi (Ghulam) v Heaton (Inspector of Taxes) [1981] 1 WLR 1052
Hussain v Hussain [1982] 3 WLR 679; [1983] Fam 26
Vervaeke v Smith (Messina and A-G Intervening) [1983] 1 AC 145
Lawrence v Lawrence [1985] FLR 1097
Re Spence, deceased [1990] 1 Ch 652
ECmHR Appl 19628/92, Bibi v UK (Dec) 29 June 1992
Zeenat Bibi v Secretary of State for the Home Department [1994] Imm AR 550
R v Immigration Appeal Tribunal Ex p Begum (Hasna) [1995] Imm AR 249
Khan v UK (1996) 21 EHRR CD67
R v Department of Health Ex p Misra [1996] 1 FLR 128
Gereis v Yagoub [1997] 1 FLR 854
Bibi v Chief Adjudication Officer [1998] 1 FLR 375
Azad v Entry Clearance Officer, Dhaka 2000 WL 1918688
Chief Adjudication Officer v Bath [2000] 1 FLR 8
A-M v A-M (Divorce: Jurisdiction: Validity of Marriage) [2001] 2 FLR 6
ECO New Delhi v SG [2012] UKUT 00265 (IAC)
Suzia Abdin v Entry Clearance Officer, Dhaka [2012] UKUT 00309 (IAC)
Akhter v Khan [2018] EWFC 54
NA v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2019] 1 WLR 6321
Her Majesty’s Attorney General (Appellant) v Nasreen Akhter and Mohammed Shabaz Khan (Respondents) and Fatima Mohammed Hussain and Southall Black Sisters (Interveners) [2020] EWCA Civ 122
Statutes
Marriage Act 1540
An Act to restrain all Persons from Marriage until their former Wives and former Husbands be dead 1604
An Act for granting to his Majesty certain rates and duties upon marriages, births and burials, and upon batchelors and widowers, for the term of five years for carrying on the war against France with vigour 1694 6 & 7 W 3 c 6
Clandestine Marriages Act 1753
Offences Against the Person Act 1828
Marriage Act 1836
Marriage and Registration Act 1856
Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Act 1857
Offences Against the Person Act 1861
Statute Law Revision Act 1892 (c 19)
Marriage Act 1949
Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1970
Matrimonial Proceedings (Polygamous Marriages) Act 1972
Matrimonial Causes Act 1973
National Health Service (Superannuation) Regulations 1980
Children Act 1989
Private International Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1995
Civil Partnership Act 2004
Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014
The Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019
Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act 2020
Domestic Abuse Act 2021
Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill [HL] 2016–17
If someone asked me what my best advice is for writing a book during a pandemic, I would say don’t do it. That being said, I did, and it took a village (or two!) to help this book to come into existence. There are so many people who have been on this journey with me, and I am grateful to all of them for their presence in my life. Doing a research project and writing a book are lonely ventures. I am increasingly aware of how much the academy and institutional pressures can take away the joy and pleasure of writing. I have never forgotten the wonderful Ambreena Manji’s comment about being willing to go through the “pain of writing”. We write because we have to, we write because we need to, and above all we write because it should be us doing the writing.
I started this project almost a decade ago with the support of the Economic and Social Research Council and am very fortunate to have received this funding. Moreover, I am indebted to my supervisors Rosie Harding, Sonia Harris-Short and Anastasia Vakulenko for their support and guidance while completing the doctoral research that this book is based on. To my colleagues at Birmingham, Coventry and De Montfort universities who provided me with the support and space to try out arguments and whinge about anything and everything – thank you for your patience and encouragement.
A number of people were extremely generous with their time as they read drafts of chapters: Farzana Azad (my accountability angel!), Kay Lalor, Sharon Thompson, Kate Cross, Máiréad Enright, Nadine El-Enany and Amina Easat-Daas. Thank you so much to you all for your encouragement, care and support. I also owe special thanks to Rebecca Probert for answering my technical questions about the law and for generously sharing her work with me.
When I completed my doctoral studies and threw myself into full-time academic life, it took time for me to find myself and regain my voice as a writer, and it was only with the help of my lovely friends and colleagues that this was possible: my fellow wenches on the board of Feminist Legal Studies, who surround me with love and humour; and mentors who have happily embraced me along the way – especially Ambreena Manji and
My family have been my comfort and shelter throughout this experience. Thank you for everything. I love you.
Finally, to the strong, inspiring, gracious women who spoke with me, shared with me and trusted me for this project – you made me laugh and you made me cry; thank you for teaching me so many things and being so giving. This book only exists because of you.
Earlier versions of chapters in the book were adapted and published as the following:
Naqvi, Z. (2016) ‘It’s Women Who Suffer from a Lack of Recognition of Polygamous Marriage’, The Conversation, [online] 11 May, Available from: https://theconversation.com/its-women-who-suffer-from-a-lack-of-recognition-of-polygamous-marriage-56406 [Accessed 26 January 2022].
Naqvi, Z.B. (2017) ‘A Contextualised Historical Account of Changing Judicial Attitudes to Polygamous Marriage in the English Courts’, International Journal of Law in Context, 13(3): 408–28.
Naqvi, Z. (2020) ‘Nikah Ceremonies in the UK: A Tool for Empowerment?’, in R.C. Akhtar, P. Nash and R. Probert (eds) Cohabitation and Religious Marriage: Status, Similarities and Solutions, Bristol: Bristol University Press, pp 103–16.
