What is it about Princesses and Pakistanis? First Jemima Khan converted to Islam to marry Imran Khan. Then there was a whole drama between Princess Diana and her one true love, “Mr. Wonderful”, Dr. Hasnat Khan. Diana was reportedly considering conversion and possibly even a life in Pakistan. And now, the ever reliable Sun reports that Britney Spears is also considering converting to Islam and moving to Pakistan to be with her current boyfriend, paparazzi Adnan Ghalib.
But let’s back up to the Diana story first, because it’s the most interesting. According to her butler, Diana begged Khan to marry her:
“This was her soul mate,” he said. “This was the man she loved more than any other. It was a very deep and spiritual relationship.” Khan would often visit Diana and her boys at Kensington Palace, Burrell added, because the Princess was “adamant” that William and Harry get to know and grow to like Khan.Burrell revealed that he and Diana discussed giving Khan his own quarters at the Palace and that the Princess was so serious about marrying Khan she asked Burrell to find out if it was possible for them to have a private wedding.[Link]
She even met his family in Pakistan and kept in touch with his mother:
[Said Khan’s mother] “She was so nice, so friendly and down to earth. She met my mother, Hasnat’s grandmother, my nephews and nieces, all the family.” [Link]
Meanwhile she stopped speaking to her own mother because of her mother’s opposition to the relationship:
“She called the Princess a whore and said she was messing around with eff-ing Muslims and she was disgraceful and said some very nasty things.” It was after that conversation, he said, that Diana decided she didn’t want to speak to her mother ever again. [Link]
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p>Dodi then, was just a rebound, a way to get Hasnat jealous after he said that cultural differences would make it impossible to marry. This explains why the relationship was so public, and why she courted the paparazzi whose attention would spiral out of control:
She started dating Dodi in part, said Burrell, to make Khan jealous. …”She knew very well what she was doing.” All those tabloid photos of Dodi and Di cavorting on his yacht? The Princess counted on the cameras watching them… [Link]
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p>Britney Spears seems intent on proving the adage that history repeats itself, first as tragedy then as farce:
Meanwhile the fallen singer has been telling pals how much she’s in love with Ghalib, 35 and that she plans to marry him and convert to his faith, Islam. In her crazier moments she’s even been threatening to fake her own death to start a new life with him in Pakistan.The News Of The World also revealed that Ghalib’s respectable Sunni Muslim family in Birmingham are so horrified by his antics they have disowned him. One family member told the paper: “His parents … are devastated. This week his dad gave him an ultimatum, ‘Give up Britney, or you are dead to me,’ which Adnan ignored…” [Link]
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Meanwhile Pakistani women are wondering what they need to do to get a bit of attention:
“Look at the way they treat our women. I think they are so chauvinistic and full of themselves. I wonder what these women find attractive in them? May be they should launch their charm offensive on Pakistani women. That’s something we women will never complaint against,” Haq chuckled. [Link]
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p>And Rasika is warning other desi men not to get too (ahem) cocky:
Move along guys, there’s no coat-tails for non-Pakistani desi men to ride here …
What happens once you go Malayalee?
The Rasika clip made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the entertainment=)
There’s no end to your folly.
You only date Nepali.
Nina #1, girl you become a kolayalee (murderer)
Oh lord…can someone please slap a restraining order of some sort on BS to prevent her from getting hitched to someone? Where are the freaking adults?
As for Diana, ugh she’s been dead so long. Now someone is dishing dirt on her. And people will buy it to read it. Not me.
Speaking of conversion….do Hindus require any such thing? Has anyone ever heard of the men converting the women among Hindus the way Muslims seem to do? OK I’m not really even entertaining any man converting to marry a woman at this point…never seen it happen.
The story is coming back up because of a legal inquest into Di and Dodi’s deaths and accusations by Dodi’s father that the pair were killed by British secret service, at the request of Prince Phillip, to stop them from getting married. This is why the Butler was testifying, and hence why you’ll see a lot about Di in the news again.
This Rasika Mathur was hilarious…I laughed out loud. I’d like to email her how funny she is.
What’s the slogan behind Tamil lovers?
Muslims are only allowed to marry Muslims. Therefore they insist the non Muslim converts. Hindus and Sikhs who tend to marry outside their religion don’t insist on it because they don’t have the same complex.
While it is not exactly encouraged, Muslims can marry others of the book – i.e. Christians and Jews. However, the polytheistic kafir Hindus are a strict no no.
I have. I’ve seen (white) men convert to marry women who were Catholic, Mormon and Jewish. In at least one case, that describes the parents of a friend of mine. But yeah, it’s not as common.
But didn’t some of the moguls marry hindu brides?
It’s not a “complex” as you describe it. The Muslim marriage ceremony (or is it the nikaah) requires both parties to sign some sort of contract, which can be done only by Muslims (I’m sure I am mangling many terms here). I have a white friend (in fact, some of my best friends are white!) who converted to marry his Muslim bride so that her parents could see her have a Muslim ceremony. Of course, both husband and wife are completely non religious, so the conversion was purely for the purpose of the marriage.
Will that mean we will never see another photo or hear another word of her ever again? Marry on, Britney!
12 · sa said
The Moguls did not always obey Islamic law. Babur had sex with teenage boys and his grandson Akbar was an apostate.
A funny women is a rare breed and that video just gives farther evidence. I think the reason is that the comedy is to woman oriented and guys just dont get it, just like if a Indian comedian is Indian oriented then only Indians will get it and everyone else thinks he sucks.
Funny women I can think of: Mindy Kaling, the Indian girl from The Office Sara Silverman Wonda Sykes Tina Fey Lisa Lampanelli Diablo Cody
Also the women from Reno 911 are hilarious.
13 · Rahul said
Muslim women can only marry Muslims. Muslim men can marry Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians and Sabians (whoever those are).
The sun is the trashiest tabloid. Never believe anything printed there…lol
I have also got a friend who coverted to marry a Jewish man. I’m sure it’s just as tough for other religions like Mormons and Orthodox Christians , you just don’t hear/ see it as much as Muslims.
Rahul you are right the muslim ceremony is the nikkah and it’s the contract between bride and groom for an Islamic marriage. In many communities the nikkah states monetary value that the bride is promised from the groom should the marriage dissolve to help her if she’s ever divorced amongst other conditions.
I like the comments from Pakistani women….that paragraph made me chuckle.
Muslim women can only marry Muslims
I think it’s due to the same philosphy in Judaism where the mother has to be Jewish for a child to be considered Jewish. Nowadays many Imams therefore can do the conversion for non-muslim men.
RE britney….what is goin on with her??? I can’t believe she didn’t turn up for the custody hearing. Wow
They are just naturally talented in bowling maiden over. [link]
So waht is it about Pakistani men. Are thye just really really hot? Is it their attitudes towards women? Why, it the words of the Times of India, are glamorous western women drawwn to Pakistani men?
Any thoughts?
She’s funny!
dude, quoting the times of india is sad….most of the paper is based on hyping and sensationalizing non-existent phenomena (including this particular one); observe the almost non-existent empirical basis of the huge generalization
This is so overated. For one thing this Imran Khan looks more white then he does Pakistani and this guy Diana dated was very educated so he was not you typical Pakistani.
Speaking of Muslims and non-muslims women in England there have been a couple of issues that I don’t think I have that have south asian story to that some reason people here don’t want to talk about.
Pakistani Muslim men date sikh and hindu women in England and then blackmailing them into marriage and making them become Muslims. Many threaten to tell the girls familes about what there daughters are doing.I have seen story about where these women have been shipped back to Pakistan and put in brothels.
Muslim rape in England of young poor white girls as young as 11 by Pakistani and Bangladeshi men. The men groom these girls by getting them hooked on drugs.I could only image the backlash when someanother young girl is raped by these stupid losers and some sikh or hindu is attacked for revenge cause he the 1st brown person they see. The BNP in England can only get popular thanks to these muslims savages.
There was TV special about this that get pulled to PC police happy http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3733215.stm
I wish that Sepia Mutiny would cover these issues.
21 · Ikram said
Here’s a nice guy Sarfraz Manzoor, a British of Pakistani origin.
http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/sarfraz_manzoor/2008/01/who_are_these_men.html
Clueless is right about some of what goes on in the U.K.
Pakistani men? What about Arun Nayar, Salman Rushdie, Naveen Andrews, etc? Overrated article!
the greatest babe-magnet i ‘ve ever known was a pakistani dude i used to work with. tall, athletic, handsome-enough and a former cricket player he was (no, he wasn’t imran.) he would attract women like i’ve never seen before or since. went to a strip bar with him once and he got the strippers number, which is harder than some of you may think.
anyway, his whole MO was to be exceedingly polite to everyone, men women beautiful or ugly it didn’t matter. he came across like he was from a different time or place, when chivalry and politeness meant everything. if there was a group of women he would pay attention to the least attractive one but somehow go home with the hottest. he was an artist.
It’s ‘cos they’re Scythian, duh!
🙂
Where’s our modern-day Akbar when we need him? (It was Akbar, right, who saved Hindu women from the same fate centuries ago?)
oh, btw, re 28: i went to the strip bar for the steak.
PopCrunch claims that Adnan has proposed and that Britney is going to have a very halal wedding [via Taz]:
Now I place no trust in how reliable any of this is. I just find it interesting how becoming and marrying a Muslim is considered even more shocking than much of what she has pulled thus far …
Have your friends admire your daring! Shock your parents! Marry a muslim!
I think Ghalib’s parents are probably more pissed that their son is marrying a women who so is not a virgin rather than non-Muslim.
Hey, they’ve both been married twice …
Clueless,
Is it just muslims in general and Islam with whom you have such a big problem? Tell me true…
Manju is such a classy guy…
35 · coach diesel said
thanks coach, same to you.
I always interpreted that restriction as another way for Islam to spread itself. Get a woman into the faith through marriage, you gain one more person who will spread Islam via progeny. Lose a woman, the faith loses all her off-spring too. This probably is too much of a cynical view.
If that’s the primary reason why she’s marrying and potentially converting, well… she’ll soon be on her way to Marriage Number Four.
37 · Gruhasthu said
Cynicism has nothing to do with it. But you are right in your view of it spreading through marriage/woman to child. Religion can be like a disease that way. 😉
Manju, You know that I’m a classy dame
38 · Blue said
If the pop-star does get married to Mr. Ghalib, that would be a boon for all of us. We may never have to see her face again.
Clueless is right about whats going on in the UK.
Here is another source about the situation.
Another.
It would be nice if the moderate Muslims would counter this extremist elements rather than accusing those who complain about them of islamophobia.
Ooops. I see Rahul beat me to that already. Rahul at 13.
31 · Ennis said
Wtf? They are really making ridiculous assumptions. A google search will show a pic of him wearing a cross. I highly doubt that he’s all that religious. Plus apparently he managed a strip clup of something. And The same site says that they are planning on a scientology wedding. And now they use the ever trusted, Islamic cliches to spurn gossip.
And am I missing something? When did it come out that he was of Pakistani decent? Again, google points to his hailing from Afghanistan.
Jemima Khan is a Princess? I thought she was just a daddy’s little rich girl. You know, Hugh Grant is a common thread in this Eastern/Western couple thing. Jemima left Imran Khan and dated Hugh, and Hugh used to date Liz Hurley who married Arun Nayar. See? And Hugh Grant isn’t even Pakistani!!!
37 · Gruhasthu said
Of course thats one reason. It is also a common Islamic belief that Muslim men that marry non-Muslim women will automatically gain entrance to paradise. It is also a useful tool to oppress non-Muslims. The message is that Muslims are the masculine/dominant group and non-Muslims are the feiminine/submissive group. The same tactic was used by the conquistadors in South America to subdue the indigenous populations.
Her mother is Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart, and her maternal grandfather was the 8th Marquess of Londonderry. She’s not a princess exactly, but she is from an aristocratic family.
If there’s only one, does that mean he’s a paparazzo? 🙂
This is not true — Sikhs (who are practicing) are required to marry other Sikhs. You tend to see interfaith marriages among Sikhs who are not particularly religious (i.e., more “culturally” Sikh than “religiously” Sikh).
I’ve met Muslims in the Bay who have also reinterpreted this to mean that Muslims can marry other people of other monotheistic faiths, but generally I’ve seen it limited to the “religions of the book.”
If he’s desi, does that make him a papadazzo?
Does that mean he’s a papadum? 🙂
White girls who convert to Islam are usually young, naive or just plain mad. Diana was unhinged; Jemima was a naive, bored and overprivileged 20 year old undergraduate when she met Imran and found herself drawn into converting.
Imran Khan tried to convert several aristocratic white girls to Islam before Jemima, including Sita White, the mother of the child he denied fathering. These women were older and stronger and refused to convert. It would not surprise me if Imran used Jemima to find his place in paradise after his old erring ways (as a born again Muslim, bringing a white woman into the faith), and bring Islam into the English upper classes through his and Jemima’s two sons.