Christian woman Shakeela Bibi from Arifwala, Punjab, has filed a petition in court stating that since her husband has embraced Islam, she cannot live with him.

But instead of dealing with the case according to the law, the Muslim Judge commented that she should also convert to Islam and keep living with him.

Shakeela Bibi insisted that while she could abandon her husband, she could not abandon her Christian faith.

However, unfortunately there is not much help available in such cases.

It is a difficult situation for Shakeela Bibi as Pakistan has a dual justice system (secular and Islamic law) and unfortunately it is up to the police and the courts to decide under which law a case should be dealt.

According to reports, Shakeela Bibi a young Christian lady had married to Muhammad Aslam, formerly Aslam Masih. It was an arranged marriage that took place with the consent of the both families. But four years later Aslam Masih and his parents converted to Islam as they were the only Christian family in the Muslim majority town.

After embracing Islam her husband, whose new name is Muhammad Aslam, filed two lawsuits against Shakeela Bibi regarding Restitution of conjugal rights and suit for declaration that Shakeela is Muslim.

Shakeela Bibi has also filed a petition for dissolution of marriage against Mohammad Aslam because her husband has changed his religion, without her consent, therefore she cannot live with him anymore.

Shockingly, when Shakeela Bibi was crying before the court, the family judge asked her to convert to Islam instead of dealing with her divorce petition.

Shakeela’s case has to be dealt according to the law of the land, and not Shariah law, as she is still Christian.

This is not the only case but there are several examples where the courts apply Shariah law despite it not being applicable to non-Muslims.

Pakistan is considered a most dangerous country for the minorities. Unfortunately, they are considered 2nd class citizens of the country and suffer in all walks of life in a country despite having equally supported Quaid e Azam for the independence of Pakistan.