By M Reyaz, TwoCircles.net,
New Delhi: A group of progressive Muslim women, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) have stepped up their demand for codification of Muslim Personal Law (MPL) with the new NDA government at the helm. They made it clear that they do not see solutions to the problems of Muslim women in uniform civil code, but demand equality and rights as enshrined in Islamic laws, based on Quran and Hadith.
On Thursday afternoon BMMA held a press-conference at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC) in the national capital. This was their third meet with the press with the draft bill after Mumbai and Chennai.
The draft Muslim family law of the BMMA has been titled as “The Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act,” and revolves around the issues of marriage, divorce and maintenance. The BMMA sought a total ban on polygamy, oral divorce and system of halala.
L-R:: Dr Noorjehan Safia Niaz, Zakia Soman and Khatoon Shaikh at the IWPC in New Delhi on July 3, 2014 while presenting the Draft Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act.
According to BMMA, the released draft law has been put together in consultation with thousands of Muslim women apart from leading Islamic scholars, lawyers, jurists and academicians. “The draft that we have come up with was constituted after over 200 consultation meetings with Muslim women across 15 states, besides lawyers, academics as well as Islamic scholars,” said Dr Noorjehan Safia Niaz, one of the founding members of the BMMA.
When TwoCircles.net asked her if they have had any discussions with the traditional Muslim organizations like the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, etc, Dr Noorjehan said that in the initial years they did approach some of these organizations, but they were met with cold shoulder, adding, “When we started to work towards empowerment of the women, our identity, faith and integrity was questioned by many of these traditional clerics and groups.”
AIMLB is just like another NGO and it has no constitutional standing, she reminded, but made it clear that the BMMA is open to discussions with anyone in future, if they approach them.
Zakia Soman, another member of the BMMA, said that they are still open to discussions and at primarily level they expect that people realize and accept that there is problem and that women, particularly those at the lower strata of the society, do not get a fair deal and that it is high time change need to come. “We are open to reevaluation as this a draft, but that acceptance has to come first,” she told media persons.
With the new government at the center, talks of a uniform civil code have once again begun and their champions claim that it would give women across religions equal footing. Asked if they would support such an initiative for a UCC, Zakia Soman made it very clear that they are demanding equal rights as enshrined in Quran and Hadith and do not think that UCC would solve the problems of women. “First there is no clarity on UCC and we do not know what it will be. Moreover, the champions of so called UCC are particularly are people with (Hindu) right-wing, patriarchal mindset and are not really know for championing the causes of women,” she added.
When TCN asked her if their draft law is based on the already existing laws in any of the Muslim countries, she said that we cannot directly copy from some country as the societal problems and situations of women, particularly those who come from poor families and not educated, and hence they have relied more on consultations to evolve local solution, but in the light of Islamic principles.
Khatoon Shaikh, another member of BMMA, who has been running “Sharia Adalat” to sought out civil discords in Mumbai for 25 years believe that the patriarchal mind-set of people must change, and adds that often the clerics, who are men, take sides as women are made to suffer.
The Constitution of India permits all socio-religious communities to follow their religious persuasions in family matters, they pointed out. Consequently, there are existing laws such as the Hindu Marriage Act, Hindu Succession Act, The Divorce Act for Christians and Acts based on religious texts of other communities. For the Muslim community the Shariat Application Act of 1937, The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act of 1939 provide partial solutions to the existing socio-legal problems such as marriage, divorce, custody of children, polygamy etc; however, that need serious overhaul, they added.
They havedemanded that the Parliament and the government of India adopt this draft and call for nationwide consultations to bring about a gender-just MPL – Muslim personal law- based on the Holy Quran.
The BMMA that has over 40,000 members across the country, has been holding consultations and meetings of Muslim women and others from the community in different states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, Orissa, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, U.P etc in the last seven years. This has been done with the intention to bring about a gender-just and fair Muslim personal law based on the Quranic principles.
It has been seen that scores of Muslim women suffer in India owing to a lack of knowledge and awareness about Quranic tenets in matters such as marriage, divorce and other family matters. This situation is compounded by total absence of any laws in written or codified form. As a result, women get divorced instantly and get thrown out with nowhere to go.
Similarly, there is a huge misinformation about the right of a Muslim man to marry more than once. Polygamy is not given a free hand in Quran and the Quran in fact points towards monogamy as an ideal. The draft MPL is an effort to put an end to such suffering of women.
Key highlights of the proposed draft MPL:
Age of marriage for girls to be minimum 18 and minimum 21 for boys
Total ban on oral, unilateral and triple divorce
No to polygamous marriage
Well-laid out Quran-based procedure, Talaak-e-Ahsan for a husband to divorce the wife and vice-versa
Minimum mehr or dower in consonance with the groom’s annual income
Compulsory registration of marriages
Maintenance support for wife and children during marriage, separation and divorce
Rules for custody of children in the event of divorce based on the principle that mother and father are natural guardians of the child
Responsibilities of the Qazis and Arbitrators have also been laid down
The practice of halala should be declared an offense
The BMMA has resolved to undertake a nation-wide campaign to make women and general public aware for the need for a codified MPL and the need to make the government act towards it. BMMA also resolves to make coalition of organizations and individuals to make this law a reality. BMMA recognizes that a codified MPL is just a first step towards a long term journey of justice and equity for all amongst the Indian Muslims.
BMMA is planning to undertake huge awareness, dialogue, consultations amongst all sections of the Muslim community, civil society and agencies of the government.
The copies of the draft MPL are being sent out to Law Ministry, National Human Rights Commission, National Commission of Minorities, National Commission of Women, various state minorities and women’s commissions, members of parliament and others in decision-making positions to hold consultations with various stakeholders on this draft. They also plan to meet all the stake-holders.
Related:
Need for a national study on Muslim women: Muslim Mahila Andolan
Muslim women call for codification of personal laws