TCN News
Jaipur : All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) organised its ‘5thNorth India Tafheem-e-Sharia Workshop’ for Ulema’s and Legal Personnel of the society at Jaipur on 8th & 9th April 2017. The workshop was attended by prominent 200 Ulema’s and 100 legal personnel from different parts of North India. A separate workshop for selected women activists and a general public meeting for more than 20 thousand ladies was also organised at Idgah, Jaipur.
On this occasion the fundamental rights of women in Islam were highlighted. Islam is the only religion that has facilitated women with the right to inheritance, right to divorce, property right; do separate business even if she is married and stressed that it has been strictly advised to children that the Paradise is under the feet of the mothers. It was also informed that there is hardly any case of dowry killing, officially reported in the Muslim Community because of the beauty of Sharia accordance and women empowerment in Islam.
On the issue of Triple Talaaq the AIMPLB condemned the so called propagation of media regarding the signatures of Muslim women in few numbers against triple talaaq whereas the Board has procured more than 4 crore of authentic signatures and around 2 crore by Muslim women in favour of Sharia and Board stand.
The speakers stressed that making or changing a law will not solve the problem of Talaaq by citing the example of Anti Dowry Act, because one woman dies every hour due to dowry related reasons on an average in the country and there is a steady rise in such cases according to official data. Hence there is a need to spread awareness of ethical behaviour in sensitive issues.
The speaker quoted Nivedita Menon, Professor, JNU, stating that “the woman at the centre of this recent round of debate on the Uniform Civil Code is Shah Bano, who received talaq by post. Her lawyer, instead of using any of the three recourses available — the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, or the citation of the Shamim Ara v. State of U.P. (2002) judgment — decided to file a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court challenging triple talaq on the grounds of violation of Fundamental Rights. Mrs. Bano is now in the media spotlight, spiritedly criticising patriarchy in the Muslim community. The Muslim marriage as contract protects women better in case of divorce than the Hindu marriage as sacrament. Muslim Personal Law is already modern in this sense, since it has from 1930s enshrined individual rights to property, unlike Hindu law,in which the family’s natural condition is assumed to be ‘joint’.”
The media hype around the issue of Talaq in Muslim community has ignored the fact that most of the Muslim majority countries, as well as Asian countries enriched with religious and cultural background are having the least divorce rate as compared to developed western countries and not a single Muslim majority country is in the list of top 10 most divorced nations (Belgium – 71% ; Portugal – 68%; Hungary – 67%; Czech Republic – 66%; Spain – 61%; Luxembourg – 60%; Estonia – 58%; Cuba – 56%; France – 55%; USA – 53%).
In Indian perspective as per the 2011 Census the data among Muslim separated/divorced/abandoned women is less than the other communities. The statistics of triple talaaq is nearly negligible, as compared to other forms of talaq prevalent in Muslim society. The dignitaries of Board also highlighted the fact that before Islam people were keeping wives in hundreds and thousands number and it was accepted across the cultures and civilizations till 20th century, but Islam regulated it and restricted up to 4 only with conditions. It is surprising that as on date Muslims are least polygamous as compared to other communities in India. The census of 1961 has revealed the data related to polygamy, where Muslims are 5.7%, Hindus 5.8%, Buddhist 7.9% and Tribal 15.25%. The trends continued to repeat same statistics. Hence it is a myth and propaganda that polygamy is a problem in Muslim society. As per Hindu Law (1955-56) polygamy is prohibited, while statistics show the other way round. There is no legal status for Hindu second wife (Supreme Court Verdict: 2010; Bench: J., Markandey Katju; J., T.S. Thakur), while in Islam the second wife enjoys equal rights as the first wife.
In legal terms it is a fundamental and constitutional right of each and every religious denomination to practice, profess and propagate religion and manage its own affairs in the matters of religion, as per the religious doctrines/beliefs/tenets of its religious denomination and the same is protected under Article 25, 26 and 29 of the Constitution, particularly Article 26(b) of the Constitution.
Marriage under Muslim Law is a sacred and religious, civil contract, therefore all issues and disputes incidental to marriage would be governed by and further required to be decided as per the terms, conditions, and intentions of the parties to the said contract. Therefore, all the disputes arising between such contracting parties are purely civil disputes and required to be decided by civil trial before competent civil court, particularly by leading and appreciation of evidence. In any case, the said disputes have certainly not arisen on account of any action of the “State” or an instrumentality of “State”, falling within Article 12 of the Constitution, or even on account of any legislation passed by the “State”.
The AIMPLB members appealed the masses to cooperate them in contemporary issues and spread awareness to eradicate the misunderstandings regarding Personal Law and other related issues.
The meeting witnessed a massive gathering of above 2 lakh people from Jaipur and different parts of Rajasthan. The event was presided by Great Islamic Scholar and Thinker Hazarat Maulana Sayyed Mohd. Vali Rahmani Sb, General Secretary All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The gathering was addressed by Hazarat Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani Sb., Secretary AIMPLB; Hazarat Maulana M. Fazalur Raheem Mujaddidi Sb, Secretary, AIMPLB; Adv. Zafaryaab Jeelani Sb., Secretary AIMPLB; Dr Asma Zohra, Convener Women’s Wing AIMPLB and other dignitaries of AIMPLB across the country.