India – Shia Muslim Women – Divorce & Islamic Law – Article Update + Academic Paper on Triple Talaq
Author: Womens UN Report Network
Date: November 6, 2006
Attachments: India-Triple Talaq
Paper-Karen Andrews.doc
Karen
Leslie Hernandez-Andrews
Professor Carol
Fontaine
May
29, 2006
The Times of India Online
drafted by Shia clerics may soon give a section of Muslim women in India the
right to initiate divorce.
Announcing this here, All-India Shia Personal Law Board
(AISPLB) president Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar said the new nikahnama will also
ensure that details of action to be taken and the compensation to be paid at the
time of divorce will be put in black and white at the time of marriage.
The draft will be put up for
approval at the second annual session of the AISPLB to be held at Mumbai on
November 26. Maulana Athar was confident that the nikahnama would be passed as
it had received a nod from one of the most senior Shia clerics of Iraq,
Ayatollah Sistani. “It is only a matter of time before the new model nikahnama
comes into force,”he said.
Maulana
Athar said the new nikahnama is very liberal and was formed after many
deliberations and discussions with religious experts. “We also consulted legal
luminaries, including high court judges, before finalising the draft,”he added.
Enumerating the salient features of
the nikahnama, he said Shia women will have a right to initiate divorce
proceedings against husbands who fail to live up to their duties and
responsibilties.
“If the man
tortures his wife mentally or physically, or leaves her for a long time, or has
fooled her about his background at the time of marriage, then the woman has a
right to divorce him,”said Maulana Athar.
Giving examples, he said that there are cases where
married men with kids have duped girls by hiding facts and marrying a second
time.
According to the model
nikahnama’s provisions, the procedure to be followed at the time of divorce will
be decided at the time of marriage itself.
The two witnesses each from the groom and the bride’s
side will be asked to arbitrate with the couple in case of dispute.
All these measures will make
divorce among Shias even more rare. Shias have always had a comparatively more
stringent procedure for divorce than Sunnis. There are about 4 crore Shia
Muslims in India.
About the
controversy surrounding the fatwas, Maulana Athar said though Shias had fatwas,
only a select few had the right to issue it.
“It can be issued only by Ayatollah Sistani. Only his
representatives in India can interprete them,”he said. Nobody in India has the
right to issue fatwa for Shias, he added. He also said that everything is not
mentioned in the Koran and with the passage of time new understandings of
Shariat emerge.
Among the other
issues to be raised at the November 26 annual session of the AISPLB will be the
demand for increasing Shia representation in government.
AISPLB feels that there should be a national policy for
the Shias to prevent their exploitation by vested interests. The attitude of the
government towards Muslims especially in Maharashtra came in for criticism.
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