By IANS
Lucknow : A Supreme Court order Thursday making the registration of marriages mandatory for all has divided leading Muslim clerics, with Shia leaders backing the move.
Maulana Khalid Rasheed, a member of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board and head of Lucknow’s oldest Islamic seminary Firangi Mahal, expressed reservations against the order.
“I fail to understand why should such a need arise in case of a Muslim marriage where a nikahnama is a good enough recorded evidence of marriage,” Rasheed asked.
“After all the Shariat Application Act of 1937 clearly allows Muslims to carry out their marriages and other religious rituals in the manner prescribed under Islam; and no law is supposed to override that right,” he said.
The Maulana added, “Unlike Hindu marriages where there is no certificate in black and white, three copies of nikahnama are issued and these could ideally serve every practical purpose of a registration certificate.”
He has no objection as long as such a registration was allowed to be optional. “But in case intent of the court order is to just not recognise any marriage that is not registered, then such a law would not be acceptable to the Muslims.”
However, Maulana Mohammad Athar, the head of All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board, does not agree with him.
“I see nothing wrong with the order making marriage registrations mandatory. I fail to see how is it going to infringe upon the Muslim Personal law? After all, the court is not prescribing any change in the system of nikah”, Athar argued.
“Islam does not prohibit registration of marriages. So, as far as Shias are concerned, I think they would have no objection to such a registration.”
He said, “Muslims carrying their spouses to the Gulf countries have to necessarily get their nikahnamas registered with a magistrate, without which they are not entitled to the visas.”
The apex court Thursday directed all states and union territories to enact laws within three months to make registration of all marriages mandatory.
A bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat also sought compliance reports from the governments within three months.
The bench noted that several states had made registration of marriages compulsory only for members of the Hindu community, while the court had earlier asked for mandatory registration of marriages in all communities.