Laila’s dilemma mirrors what too many quietly live through
In Jama Taqseem, Mawra Hocane stars as Laila opposite Talha Chahour’s Qais, a newly married couple finding their footing in his crowded family home. The house is full: Qais’s parents, two brothers and their families, all living under one roof.
The latest episode, however, peeled back the layers of this seemingly ordinary setup, showing what it truly means to navigate love and privacy within the joint family system.
Episode nine opens with a conversation between Laila and her friend, one that has since deeply resonated with viewers. Her friend reminds her, “Our religion gives a lot of importance to the privacy of a husband and wife’s relationship.”
She then urges Laila to ask her husband if they can move out from his family home and into their own, especially since he can afford it. The suggestion leaves Laila visibly unsettled. To her, the idea of asking for a separate home feels almost like a sin.
Laila’s confusion speaks volumes. Her hesitation shows just how deeply the joint family system has been normalised. She worries that living separately might mean cutting ties with her in-laws, forgetting that she, too, left her parents and family behind when she got married.
It is an unspoken truth in many households: what is ‘understood’ and ‘given’ often goes unquestioned. Her friend gently reminds her, “Living separately doesn’t mean that your relationship with your family will end.”
The defeat on Laila’s face is unmistakable. She looks like someone who has surrendered before even trying. Like countless women in similar situations, she knows that even suggesting such a thing could spark resentment from her in-laws. “I wonder what tags and labels will be put on me,” she says quietly, aware of the judgment that often follows such choices.
Her friend’s words ring true for many: “A woman starts her married life with her husband, unfortunately in our society it is the opposite.”
The scene has prompted a strong reaction online, where viewers praised the show for shedding some light on the Islamic perspective of joint family systems. One user tweeted, “You don’t get how accurate Jama Taqseem is until you have lived in a joint family… hits every relation, every angle so precisely.”
Another X user tweeted, “Good on Jama Taqseem for adding that one scene that clarifies a woman isn’t required to serve her husband’s parents. I really hope they don’t glorify joint families towards the end and waste all their own effort.” 
“So far Jama Taqseem is ticking all the right boxes in depicting the hell that is the joint family system. My only hope is, going further, they wouldn’t nebgate it all to uphold the family is family bs.” We hope so too!
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