Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi solemnised their Nikah during her Iddat: Mufti Saeed

ISLAMABAD: Mufti Saeed Khan, who solemnised the Nikah of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi, said that the couple married during the latter's Iddat — the time a woman goes into isolation after her husband dies or divorces her.

The cleric's remark came during the proceedings of the case related to the allegedly unIslamic Nikah of the former prime minister with Bushra Riaz Wattoo — who is better known as Bushra Bibi.

The former prime minister married Bushra — his third wife — in February 2018.

Khan's friend Zulfi Bukhari and former party leader Awn Chaudhry had said the Nikah was solemnised by Mufti Saeed in Lahore. They both also stood witness to Khan's Nikah.

Today, Mufti Saeed appeared before a local court in Islamabad with his lawyer to record his statement.

"Imran Khan contacted me on phone on January 2018. At that time I had good ties with Imran Khan and I was a member of his core committee.

"Imran Khan asked me to solemnise his nikkah with Bushra Bibi," Mufti Saeed told the court.

He further stated that a woman accompanying Bushra Bibi showed herself as her sister.

"I asked her [the woman] if Bushra Bibi's Nikah can be [solemnised] as per Shariah," Mufti Saeed said, adding that the woman told him that all requirements for the marriage under the Shariah were complete.

He further stated that he solemnised Khan's Nikah with Bushra Bibi on January 1, 2018 over the woman's assurance.

"Then the former premier contacted me again on February 2018 and requested me to solemnise his Nikah with Bushra Bibi again as the first time it was against the Shariah," Mufti Saeed stated before the court.

He said that the first time when the Nikah was solemnised, Bushra Bibi's Iddat hadn't ended. He quoted Khan as saying that Bushra Bibi had been divorced on November 2017 and that there was a "prediction" that the PTI chairman will become the prime minister of Pakistan if he married Bushra Bibi.

Mufti Saeed added that the first Nikah was illegal which had been solemnised basing on the "prediction".

Imran Khan's Nikah with Bushra Bibi solemnised twice

Mufti Saeed had also made this claim on January 24 during the Geo News programme "Jirga".

It had been reported that the former PM's third Nikah took place on January 1, 2018. However, the party had denied the report at that time.

The news about the former PM's third Nikah was first broken by a senior correspondent with The News, Umar Cheema, who said that the Nikah first took place on January 1, 2018. However, the party had denied the report at that time.

Cheema had reported that Khan married Bushra when she was observing Iddat. In his report, the journalist said that to hide the fact about Bushra's Iddat, pictures were released on February 18, 2018.

He further claimed that Khan appealed to Mufti Saeed to not give any statement to the media persons at that time to hide his lie, adding that Khan told Mufti Saeed to maintain the PTI chief’s integrity under any condition.

To this, the latter said that the former PM shouldn’t stop him from giving a statement as he agreed to keep the secret.

Cheema added that Mufti Saeed had expressed reservations with people close to him and said that if he tells the truth, it will lead to an issue and he cannot let anyone know that he blindly trusted Khan and Bushra Bibi regarding the Iddat period.

He also said that he was kept in the dark regarding the matter.

According to Maneka family sources, Bushra's former in-laws, the divorce took place on November 14, 2017, which was confirmed by Bushra's friend Farah Jabeen and the Iddat was completed on February 14.