Quranic injunction on the issue of divorce and with the (final) third time utterance of the word “Talaq” does the divorce take formal effect. This Quranic procedure is unamendable . And the Apex court has not gone anywhere near it.
Yet there is this rat race among news channels to expose their professional ignorance. And , ironically one is trying to rundown the other for being “behind” in the race.
India’s Supreme Court banned the Islamic divorce practice known as “triple talaq” in a landmark ruling announced Tuesday.
The practice, that stretches back over a thousand years, allows a husband to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, talaq, three times.
The five-judge bench did not unanimously ban the practice, which Balaji Srinivasan, one of the lawyers on the case, called “disappointing.” Instead, three judges ruled that it was unconstitutional, while the remaining two judged that it should be up to the country’s parliament to pass legislation officially banning the practice.
In a statement issued after the meeting at the Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama Islamic seminary in Lucknow followed by SC verdict , AIMPLB ( All India Muslim Personal Law Board )President Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadvi said Muslims have “complete constitutional right” to practise their personal law, which also put the responsibility on the community to “protect it by fully adhering to it”.
The Sharia has given equal rights to men and women, and it is the responsibility of the community to provide those rights to women. There are “large-scale misconceptions” about Muslim personal law, especially the law of talaq, because of lack of “correct information”.
The correct argument is that the talaq has been kept to save the women from danger that if a few people misuse it, what is required is not a change in the law, but the reforming of such people.
When Muslims are not allowed to force their religious beliefs on others, the traditions of other religions should also not be imposed on them. Sharia considered marriage “a permanent and stable relationship”. In the first three points, it urged Muslim couples to try to settle their differences by themselves, attempt temporary separation, and involve family members for reconciliation and arbitration.
If mediation does not work, triple talaq should be employed, but with fixed waiting periods between declaration of talaq for the first, second and third times. The husband should leave the wife after giving the first talaq, and allow the waiting period of iddat get over. If a compromise is reached during the waiting period, they should restart their relationship.
According to the code of conduct, if the wife is pregnant, the waiting period will continue until the pregnancy is over. The husband will have to give maintenance to his wife for the waiting period of iddat, and return the mehar (promised at the time of marriage) after the divorce is finalised.
The husband should strictly follow the waiting period and declare talaq for the first time in the first month, for the second time in the second month and for the third time in the third month in “paki (pure) condition”.
The wife too can end the marriage by using khula. The eighth point in the code of conduct states that the Muslim community should socially boycott the person who gives instant triple talaq. This social boycott would be similar to the practice of denying “hookah paani (social contact)”.
The Board has appealed to imams of mosques and clerics to stress on adherence to the code of conduct in their speeches at Friday prayers. The Board would help women who have suffered due to the “unjust use of triple talaq”
The rate of divorce among Muslims was much lower than what is sometimes portrayed in the media. The board sought to clarify the practice of halala: “The meaning of halala is that the woman is haram for the husband after talaq. She can then marry another person. And if her second husband dies or the couple gets divorced, she can return to her first husband. This is not like it’s done on purpose.”
Board did not comment on the BJP governments’ support to the demand for an end to instant triple talaq. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that his government would present its “stand formed on the basis of Muslim women’s opinion” to the Supreme Court, which is hearing petitions related to triple talaq. Adityanath has asked for a plan to gather the views of Muslim women, and directed ministers to meet with women’s groups.
Board member Kamal Faruqui rejected as incorrect the “propaganda” that a lot of women were affected by triple talaq. Another member, Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, said Muslims had a lower rate of divorce than non-Muslims.
Asma Zahra of the AIMPLB women’s wing said the Board had collected 5.81 crore signatures — including from 2.71 crore women — from individuals who said they wanted to follow Muslim personal law and opposed uniform civil code. Muslim women have the right to remarry after divorce and after the death of their husband, she said.
Zahra said the Board is working to help women affected by instant triple talaq, and has set up a toll-free helpline. “We have received 15,500 calls on the helpline. Most of the calls are not on the issue of triple talaq but related to marital discord and family disputes. Men are also calling to seeking help to counsel their wives. The real issues for women are dowry, female infanticide and security of women,” she said.
Quranic injuction on the issue of Talaq and with the (final) third time utterance of the word “Talaq” does the divorce take formal effect. This Quranic procedure is unamendable . And the Apex court has not gone anywhere near it.
Yet there is this rate race among news channels to expose their professional ignorance. And , ironically one is trying to rundown the other for being “behind” in the race.