The Islamabad court dismissed the petition challenging the marriage as un-Islamic.
The marriage of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi has been a topic of discussion since 2018 after the two got married. Controversy has sparked regarding their marriage which is being stated as un-Islamic.
The couple was accused of violating Islamic law by marrying during Bushra iddat. However, it is worth noting that the petition challenging their marriage as Unlawful was dismissed by the court of Islamabad.
The Iddat period is a mandatory waiting period for a widowed and divorced woman in Islam before she can remarry.
Imran Khan is the founder and leader of the famous political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. He was removed from power in April 2022 after several cases regarding corruption were filed against him. Following the cases he was imprisoned with his supporters in September 2022.
Imran Khan married Bushra Bibi, a 49-year-old Islamic woman from Punjab in 2018. Bushra Bibi was married to Khawar Farid Maneka for 28 years who was an influential landowner. As per reports, the couple got divorced in 2017 after Maneka became dissatisfied with Bushra and Imran Khan’s relationship as a spiritual guide.
Maneka claimed that Imran Khan violated her marriage. According to Maneka, Bushra Bibi married Imran Khan a month and a half after her divorce, when she was still observing her three-month iddat period.
He said that the photos of their wedding published in February 2018 were an attempt to hide the fact that they were married before. She also alleged that Imran Khan visited her house without her permission and asked her to leave with the help of his staff.
Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi refuted these allegations and claimed that their marriage was legal and Islamic. They said they got married in January 2018 after the Bushra iddat season ended and their wedding was celebrated by respected ulema Mufti Saeed.
However, their marriage was challenged by petitioner Muhammad Hanif, who filed a case against them in a local court in Islamabad, accusing them of illegal marriage and violation of Sharia and Islamic norms.
He presented the testimony of Mufti Saeed, who said that he had made a mistake and that the marriage was not by Islamic law. He also said that the wedding was held during the Bushra iddat period, which is forbidden in Islam.
The case was heard by Judge Qudratullah, who dismissed the petition on Friday after Hanif withdrew his appeal. He said he wanted to withdraw the complaint temporarily and would suffer irreparable harm if he did not allow it to be done. The judge accepted his request and settled the case.
This came as a relief to Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi who were under the umbrella of severe criticism for their marriage. The couple was the target of an online campaign of false claims and abuse. The couple faces bomb threats violence and attacks on the school run by Bushra Bibi.
The school hired security guards and ended the semester early to ensure the safety of staff and students. The case raised questions about the role of Islamic law and personal choice in marriage and divorce in Pakistan.
It also exposed tensions between the PTI party and the political opposition. Though the deep truth remains unknown however few pieces of evidence show that the marriage of Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi was indeed lawful. Many individuals have even defended their marriage as private. Others have criticized it as a betrayal of public trust.
