Haq Bakhshish (Marriage to Quran): A Custom Confused With Religion: A Case Study of Qaisra Sharaz’s Protogonist ‘Zari Bano’ From the Novel Holy Woman

Pakistan is a country whose constitution and legal system is enshrined in the doctrines of Islam while the socio cultural practices are confused. The present study is a case of the protagonist Zari Bano, from the novel Holy Woman. The girl is married to Quran as per a feudal custom Haq Bakshish, and entered in to the life of sterility and celibacy. The course of events have been critically analysed against different Pakistani feminists views which unsnarls the traumatic experience of such custom prevailing in Pakistan specifically in rural Sindh. The study excavates and puts forth the detrimental coalescence of custom and religion, where Zari Bano is made her father‟s legal heiress but robbed off her matrimonial rights. The study highlights how religion is used as a handy tool to persecute woman and authenticate and legitimize feudal and patriarchal oppression. The study discloses Islamic inheritance system and its customary manipulation, psychological dilemma and misogynist attitude of the feudal lords. The study brings forth Shahraz‟s challenge to the feudal and patriarchal order and opens up a way to understand the violence ritualized in such customs and displays that