ASIAN women have been warned that a failure to go through a civil marriage as well as a Muslim union may leave them without rights.
Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui of the Muslim Parliament of Great Britain has expressed concern over the growing number of Islamic marriages in the UK which are not registered officially.
He said many people think that by conducting Islamic religious ceremony they have fulfilled their legal requirement of marriage and do not bother with the civil ceremony.
But this left the woman with "common law wife" status and could affect her legal and property rights.
He said; "Since an Islamic marriage on its own is not recognised as a valid marriage in this country, in the event of a break up, women are left with no legal protection.
"It can cause many problems in the future.
"However I must stress that Islamic marriages abroad in Pakistan, Bangladesh and India are different as the UK recognises Islamic marriages abroad."
Dr Siddiqui made his concerns known while addressing a conference on Asian marriage in Bradford organised by the Minorities Police Liaison Committee.