A FAMILY AFFAIR
(Top) Sanias father Imran Mirza and groom Shoaib during the nikah; (right) The couple pose after marriage;
SA N I A-S H OA I B | J U ST M A R R I E D
Why Mirzas Advanced The Nikah
After being in the media glare these past few days for all the wrong reasons, Sania Mirza and Shoaib Malik quietly get married three days before schedule to silence protesters, both religious and secular
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
The decision to advance the Sania-Shoaib wedding date was taken by the Mirzas as late as Sunday evening, a little more than 12 hours before the ceremony actually took place, sources said. Though the nikah had been fixed for April 15 (Thursday), the families had been feeling the heat from religious bodies and even NGOs raising various objections to the marriage.
An early nikah, the Mirzas reasoned, would silence these vocal critics.
It was on Sunday afternoon that the Sunni Ulema board had issued a fatwa raising objection to the proximity of the yet-to-bemarried Sania with Shoaib, who was staying in the Mirzas home in Hyderabad. On Saturday, some political parties and NGOs had publicly asked invitees to the wedding to boycott it. Sources said that the Mirzas were scouting for options to end the controversies around their daughters wedding and thus felt it was best the nikah was conducted even before other pre-marriage ceremonies started.
So, while the mehendi and the sangeet will be held as per schedule on April 13 and 14 followed by the reception on April 15, the nikah was performed much before any of the other rituals, a clear departure from the way weddings are conducted traditionally.
Rumours of an early nikah had been flying thick and fast since last week. Now, it is learned that the wedding was indeed meant to be held on April 9.
But that day, the qazi upset the plan by coming on various television channels announcing the time etc, said a family source. But on Sunday evening, the family decided to end all such controversies and go ahead with the nikah.
There is no ritual of mehendi among Muslims but some families have started having it in the last few years. But those who have a mehendi function, keep it a day prior to the nikah, and certainly not after it, said a senior Hyderabadi.