Murtaza Wedding Shifted Due to Saba Qamar

Saba Qamar not only angered many Muslims around Pakistan, she also eclipsed the wedding of Murtaza who said on social media that he was gutted. Murtaza wedding shifted due to Saba Qamar shoot in Masjid Wazir Khan, and Murtaza had to amend his plan and his bride is also not happy. Here is the story of Murtaza and his wedding:

I don’t know Saba Qamar personally but she and Bilal saeed have played a sad (and emotionally traumatising) part in my life recently. They don’t know this yet. But they should. It all started in 2014. I visited the Wazir Khan Mosque in Old Lahore and fell in love… with the mosque: It’s arches, it’s riot of colours, it’s deep association with Lahore, traditions and the history of modern Pakistan. I pledged that if possible I would have my Nikkah in this mosque.

Fast forward 6 years: There’s a global pandemic. Pakistani wedding culture has been altered. I’m posted as an AC in Lahore with a few days to spare before our final examinations, and I finally decide to tie the knot. First stop: Wazir Khan Mosque. The nikkah date was set. On Sunday morning after Fajar we would go to Wazir Khan Masjid and in accordance with the Sunnah of RasulAllah have our Nikkah.

Her dress was ready. My clothes were pressed. The family photographer has coordinated everything. Guests were invited. The Plan: my dream early morning simple wedding at Wazir Khan mosque. The Problem: Saba Qamar decides to make a tiktok video in a mihrab of the mosque. The Result: The administration at Wazir Khan mosque cancelled permission for my nikkah. ONE EVENING before my nikkah the same person who had allowed a dance video inside the mosque called me to say that he cannot allow anything inside the mosque now because “mujhy controversy pasand nahi”.

I’ll sound like a crybaby, but to be honest it meant a lot. I was pretty devastated. All those weeks of careful planning and years of day-dreaming were being cancelled simply because a govt servant had been irresponsible in the execution of his duty and was now covering up traditional Pakistani style by banning everything illogically. In fact I was so sad that I cancelled my nikkah. All the guests, all the arrangements, all the food, the flowers, the bidd. I cancelled everything. An emergency family meeting/conference was convened in the lounge. It was like the Ruet-e-Hilal.

At midnight it was decided that nikkah nikkah hota hai chahay Wazir khan masjid main ho ya ghar pe (I dissented, but as a precursor to married life, I was vetoed). Long story short:
At 10:30 AM, Sunday 18th Zilhaj, corresp. 9th August, 2020, in the same ghar ka lounge mentioned above, I said Qubool hai three times (So did the girl, which is more surprising). I’m now officially a married man.

As the curtains parted and my eyes fell on my beautiful bride, in my head I pictured her against the frescoes of the Wazir Khan Mosque (her clothes were designed keeping that colour palette in mind). Reminded me of Shakespeare’s utterance: So foul and fair a day I have not seen. Here ends the sad affair of Saba Qamar’s controversy and its destructive impact on my dream wedding. I have rarely been so angry at people I haven’t ever met. But those in-charge of Wazir Khan Mosque! Allah poochay ga apko! (Aur Saba ko bhi, shayad)

On this happy occasion a public service message for public servants: PLEASE STOP the “BAN EVERYTHING” approach. That’s not the solution. As a govt and as administrators we need to be prudent, discerning and logical. STOP what _should_ be stopped. Allow what is legal and halal.