Difference between revisions of "Nikoh (Tajikistan)"

Given the secrecy of ''nikoh'' without ZAGS, Tajikistan has no official statistics on the practice, nor on the prevalence of polygyny (Najibullah, 2016). One of the few official statistics is the divorce rate of one in every eight couples in a population of over eight million, indicative of an approximate ratio of potentially problematic outcomes (‘Number of Divorces Grows in Tajikistan’, 2020). Most scholars research the practice through interviews and ethnographies, and the extent of ''nikoh'' without ZAGS can be gauged through exposure to locals (Borisova, 2021; ‘Number of Divorces Grows in Tajikistan’, 2020; Roche & Hohmann, 2011; Thibault, 2018). Still, the tensions posed by ''nikoh'' are felt across European countries with Muslim minorities and beyond, where people engage in non-registration for a variety of reasons, only some of which are related to polygyny. This led to calls by scholars for more flexibility within European legal approaches to adapt to societal practices that continue to persist (Probert & Saleem, 2018). Social acceptability of ''nikoh'' can thus be seen as a form of resistance to secular, ‘external’ mores, acting both as a source of salvation and oppression for women.  

Given the secrecy of ''nikoh'' without ZAGS, Tajikistan has no official statistics on the practice, nor on the prevalence of polygyny (Najibullah, 2016). One of the few official statistics is the divorce rate of one in every eight couples in a population of over eight million, indicative of an approximate ratio of potentially problematic outcomes (‘Number of Divorces Grows in Tajikistan’, 2020). Most scholars research the practice through interviews and ethnographies, and the extent of ''nikoh'' without ZAGS can be gauged through exposure to locals (Borisova, 2021; ‘Number of Divorces Grows in Tajikistan’, 2020; Roche & Hohmann, 2011; Thibault, 2018). Still, the tensions posed by ''nikoh'' are felt across European countries with Muslim minorities and beyond, where people engage in non-registration for a variety of reasons, only some of which are related to polygyny. This led to calls by scholars for more flexibility within European legal approaches to adapt to societal practices that continue to persist (Probert & Saleem, 2018). Social acceptability of ''nikoh'' can thus be seen as a form of resistance to secular, ‘external’ mores, acting both as a source of salvation and oppression for women.  

==References==

==References==