Legal Regime on Child’s Religion: Pakistan v. England

Abstract

This article endeavors to explore the issue of legal regime on child’s religion in Pakistan and England. The discussion highlights the major issue including the parents’ authority to choose the religion of the child and provide the religious education after separation especially when father is Muslim and mother is from ahl al-Kitāb under the Pakistan and the English Family Law. Moreover, the research paper explains the stance of the judges of the Courts of Pakistan & England as whose religion the child presume to follow after separation between interreligious parents. The research paper further investigates the approach of the judges of both states to decide the interreligious custody dispute on the ground of child’s religion/religious upbringing. The research paper refers to four sunnā schools of thoughts, statute laws, and case laws of Pakistan and England. An analysis of the Pakistan Family Law and the English Family Law has carried out in a comparative way to scrutinize the tendencies of the Courts between the both states. For this purpose, cited cases are examined to discover the compatibility between the practices of the both Courts. The research paper is restricted to the discussion on the issue of choosing the child’s religion only under the Pakistan Family Law and the English Family Law. In the end, it has found that the parameters are conflicted concerning the interpretation & application lay down under the Pakistan Family Law and the English Family Law. Therefore, it is suggested that child should follow the religion of the Muslim parent because it is the matter of the protection and preservation of our religion.