5 research outputs found
Age and Social Status at Marriage:
Prior to July 15, 1961, when the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance
[5] came into effect, formal registration of marriages was not required,
although a record of marriages was usually kept by the person performing
the ceremony (Qazis, Mosque Imams, etc.). However, no centralized system
of registration of marriages existed, with the result that no reliable
statistics concerning marriages in Pakistan were available. For all
practical purposes, all Muslim and Hindu marriages in Pakistan are
arranged by the two families. But since 1961 the registration of
marriages has been required, and, as the law applies only to Muslims,
the followers of Islam are expected to adhere to it. At a later date,
perhaps, members of other religious communities may also be required to
register their marriages. Karachi, the major commercial and industrial
city of the nation, as well as its most populous city, is 96.9 per cent
Muslim [7, Vol. 1, Part II, p. 60]. The administration of the Family
Laws Ordinance is left in the hands of the Basic Democrats Union
Committees, and the registration of marriages, as well as other official
business is conducted in the Basic Democrats' Union offices. The city is
divided into a number of registration areas, and, although it is
possible to register marriages elsewhere, residents normally record
their intentions at the local union office in the registration area
where the bride resides