Hiddat Nikkah by Kiran Rafeeq

About this novel

Hiddat E Nikkah (Urdu: حدتِ نکاح) by Kiran Rafeeq is a complete Urdu cousin romance written as a light, festive Eid special. A young man flatly refuses to marry his older cousin, and his father isn’t taking no for an answer.

The novel opens with a protest: “Ammi, I’m telling you, I will not marry Maahi Aapi. Tell Abbu to stop, he shouldn’t talk to Phuppo about it.” Anaan says it helplessly, because he knows how little say he really has.

The scene is the lounge of Abbasi House, with its stairs on one side, chocolate-coloured sofas, a glass table with a small vase and the TV facing the big sofas. Shafeeq Sahib and Ruqayya Begum’s room is on the left, a guest room beside it, and Anaan’s and his brother Haris’s rooms are just opposite the stairs. For two days Ruqayya Begum has been trying to persuade Anaan to agree to marry Maahi, and he keeps refusing. Today, as soon as he got home from university, she sat him down on the sofa, and the same conversation started again. “Your father will make you agree, you lazy, useless boy,” she scolds.

ابو کے ایک سوال کے سامنے عنان کے سارے انکار دھرے رہ گئے۔

Before Ruqayya can say more, Shafeeq Sahib walks in and stares at his son. Anaan, who had been lounging next to his mother, jumps up as if on a spring. Shafeeq Sahib sits on the sofa opposite, while Ruqayya Begum hides a smile at her son’s sudden innocent act – she knows how scared he is of his father, and that he’ll never refuse in front of him. “Ammi…” Anaan whispers complainingly, hoping his father won’t hear. Of course, he does. “Talk to me, not your mother. What’s the problem? Why are you refusing to marry Maahi?” The voice leaves no room for leniency. Twenty-year-old Anaan finally gathers his courage: “Abbu, she’s four years older than me. Isn’t that reason enough?”

Kiran Rafeeq keeps the tone light and funny, full of family pressure, mother-son teasing and a classic cousin-marriage setup. Perfect for readers who enjoy short, entertaining Eid romances.

You can read Hiddat E Nikkah online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Kiran Rafique: Yara Teri Yaariyan and Tera Ishq Meri Bandagi, see all Kiran Rafique novels, or try Ik Sham by NNM and Ishq Lagan by Shah Khawar Tanha, or browse more cousin romance novels.