By Moin Qazi for TwoCircles.net
O People, it is true that you have certain rights over your women, but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God’s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Treat your women well and be kind to them, for they are your partners and committed helpers.
Farewell sermon of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
Talaq, Talaq, Talaq—the three dreaded words — if uttered by a husband in quick succession could, in less than a blink of an eye, unilaterally bring to an end the marital life of a Muslim woman. Instant divorce is currently allowed under Islamic law. In India, Muslim men have sent Triple Talaq by text, email, Facebook, Skype and Whats App. While it has always been somewhat easy for Muslim men to divorce their wives, the use of digital medium makes it almost instantaneous. while the clerical aristocracy feel it is sanctioned by scriptures, the modernists, and even dissenters within the traditionalists camp disagree and say that these laws are outdated and harmful and antithetical to the precepts of the Qur’an. They feel corrupted cultural practices dominated by male chauvinists have distorted the true spirit of the Qur’an which accords a very dignified position to women.
It may come as a shock to numerous Muslims and others that the Qur’an does not prescribe this form of divorce at all. It is not just Indian Muslim women who are suffering. In some countries in the Middle East and Malaysia, mobile devices have been used to end marriages by simply texting Talaq, Talaq, Talaq. And before the advent of mobile devices, there were instances when telephone calls, snail mail and even telegrams were used to communicate divorce.
The Supreme Court, India’s topmost judicial body has decided to examine the legality of Triple Talaq. Opposing its constitutional position to examine an issue which many clerics feel impinges on the religious autonomy are All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat-e-Ulema, the two mainstream organisations who overwhelmingly represent the conservative Muslim opinion and articulate the cleric’s viewpoint. Both have said Muslim personal law was Qur’an-based and not enacted by the legislature and hence was beyond the ambit of judicial scrutiny. AIMPLB has always defended the Triple Talaq terming any suggestion to reform Muslim personal law as motivated and tantamount to religious interference. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board was established in 1972-1973 at a time when then Government of India was trying to subvert Shari’ah law applicable to Indian Muslims through parallel legislation. The immediate backdrop was the introduction of the Adoption Bill in Parliament. While introducing the Bill the government had described it as “the first step towards Uniform Civil Code”. This triggered an alert among the ulema, which immediately went on the offensive, decrying the Bill as an attempt to dilute the separate identity of Indian Muslims.
According to AIMPLB the validity of the rights in one religion can’t be questioned by court. As per Qur’an divorce is essentially undesirable but permissible when needed. The policy of Islam is that “it is better to dissolve the marriage when there is bitterness among couples”. The board says “misconception that a Muslim man enjoys unilateral power in divorce. Also, while Islam permits polygamy, it doesn’t encourage it. This practice ensures marital rights for Muslim women, banning of which will tantamount to promiscuous sexual practices or murder of women in hands of their husbands.”
The AIMPLB also argues that polygamy was a “social need” and a “blessing” as a lawful second wife was better than an unlawful mistress and added that it gave divorced or widowed women. The board, aware of how women’s lives are destroyed by Triple Talaq, is trying to impose restrictions on its use by suggesting that efforts at reconciliation must be mandatory. It is also toying with the idea of a heavy fine for men who indulge in it.
The mainstream campaign against Triple Talaq is being led by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (Indian Muslim women’s welfare movement or BMMA). It is an Indian Islamic feminist organisation which brings forth the plight of the ordinary Muslim women in India who constantly live under the fear of being unilaterally divorced by their husbands. More than 50,000 Indian Muslim women and men have signed a petition demanding a total ban on unilateral Triple Talaq. Since it was set up in 2007, the BMMA has been campaigning for a ban on Triple Talaq, calling it a travesty of divorce as envisaged in the Qur’an, where the word has to be pronounced on three separate occasions spread over three months and must be accompanied by efforts at reconciliation. The women collective signing under Bebaak Collectvtive (Voices of the Fearless) makes it clear that they “envision a gender just law for the community where women’s question of social security and rights promised by the Indian Constitution will be practiced.”
In their search for greater understanding of he issues of Triple Talaq the activists of BMMA take us on a long, often provocative journey through psychological anecdotal evidence. The road is strewn with the opinions and findings of experts awkwardly pieced together and viewed through their distinctly feminist lens. But they seem to have fallen into the equally beguiling trap of romanticising feminist cultures and attributing to women a special moral virtue they may not possess. We are a long way from understanding at a deeper level why women lack power, but a more optimistic reading of history suggests that further economic development can only help them.
Muslims make up more than 13% of the country’s 1.2 billion people, yet they are among some of the most marginalised communities. Social indicators amongst Muslim women such as literacy, mortality and employment rates are lower than the national average, say activists. The Shariat Application Act 1937, which states that Muslims will be governed by Islamic laws, does not, however, clearly define the contents of these laws. This means that codified laws do not exist in disputes dealing with personal law and that the law is open to the interpretation of the religious authorities. The Indian government established The High Level Committee on the Status of Women in India in May 2013. The committee recommended a ban on the practice of oral, unilateral and Triple Talaq in a report published in June 2015.
But only a minuscule minority of Muslims followed Hindu customs before 1937. Even this section had the right under laws such as the Cutchi Memons Act, 1920 and the Mahomedan Inheritance Act (II of 1897) to opt for “Mahomedan Law”. As for a majority of Muslims, there is enough evidence to show they followed Muslim law, not the Hindu civil code.
The Shariat Act of 1937 was the result of this demand. It repealed all such provisions in earlier legislation that permitted custom to override ‘Mahomedan law’ in cases where the parties were Muslims. But the British did not impose this Act on all Muslims. It was made applicable (per Section 3) only to those Muslims who declared in writing their intent to come under it. This explodes the myth that it sought to divide Indians on communal lines.
It is certain that AIMLB realises the coercive element in an instant divorce through Triple Talaq but, on account of the historical, cultural and political context it took birth, it wants to adopt a cautious approach. Probably the combative posture of the Board is the fact that the initiative for the abolition has come from an organization that has absolutely no base in the community and also doesn’t have the any mandate of the community. Had the proposal come from Muslim intellectuals commanding respect and support in the community, the verdict may have been different. What all the stakeholders fail to understand is that grace and persuasiveness are better tools to resolve issues than to take belligerent positions.
Finally ,Muslims need to refresh the pivotal creed of the Qur’an:
“Verily, Allah does not change the condition of people until they change what is within themselves”(Q.13:11). (Moin Qazi is a well known expert in microfinance and co-authored the widely popular book, The Essential Microfinance. He is a PhD in English and Economics. He was associated with SBI for three decades as a grassroots field officer, program manager, policy maker and researcher in development finance)