to the Quran, traditionally called 'Haq Bakshish', is a practice in which a girl or young woman is either persuaded or compelled to forfeit her right to marry and instead devote her life to studying and memorizing the Quran. The practice is controversial throughout Pakistan, and the Council of Islamic Ideology has declared it to be "un-Islamic". In some parts of Sindh, the practice of marrying a woman to the Quran is prevalent among landlords; it requires that the woman live without a husband throughout her life. Although it is without roots in Islamic tradition, the practice is often used by men to claim the land that would otherwise be inherited by their sisters and daughters upon marriage. The cultural logic of "Quran marriage" is not unique to the limited world of Muslims in South Asia. Similar arrangements, such as the "wedding" celebrated between a Catholic novice and Jesus Christ, are known from other regions and religions. Whereas marriage to the Quran is disapproved by "textual Islam," the regionally "practiced Islam" may even add a religious coverage. The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) has unanimously approved a draft bill aimed at eliminating the inhuman customs of marrying a woman to the Quran and "Haq Bakhshwan" The council in its 157th meeting recommended to the government to award life imprisonment to those who married their sisters and daughters to the Quran. The draft bill, to be called Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment Act) 2005, seeks to abolish the un-Islamic custom of such marriages. Marriage to the holy book is a common custom in Sindh, especially among the feudal lords to avoid transfer of property out of family hands at the time of marriage of their daughter or sister. The council has declared that this practice amounts to defiling the Quran, desecrating the Islamic institution of marriage and denying a woman of inheritance as well as her right to choose a life partner. Cousin marriages According to Prof Huma Arshad Cheema (HOD Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology of the Children's Hospital, Lahore), 50 per cent of infant mortality in Pakistan is attributed to Inherited Metabolic Disorders besides inherited or genetic diseases affecting liver, heart, kidney and brain in children. As per Dr Areeba Farrukh, a Pediatric Resident at National Institute of Child Health (NICH), Karachi, cousin marriages are also an important reason for diseases like thalassemia and faulty haemoglobin build-up, which can eventually lead