The issue of triple talaq is not a fight between the state and the Muslims in India because the Muslim community is itself divided on the subject. The Sunday Guardian reached out to common men and women from different Muslim households to ask for their reasons for either demanding or resisting a ban on triple talaq. While all of them unanimously agreed that giving talaq thrice in a single sitting (Talaq-e-biddah) is not only unjust to a woman and her family, but is also a practice that even though permissible is detested by Allah, there was no consensus on how the problem should be solved. While some believe that the state law should bring in reform, others see it as an interference with the Shariah i.e. Islamic law.
Those who agree that Talaq-e-biddah should not be practiced but are against state intervention argue that Islam has a solution to this problem and therefore the religion and its followers should themselves create awareness and bring in reforms that are in line with the Shariah.
Khursheedul Hasan, ex-senior officer in the Ministry of Railways, explained why he does not support state intervention in triple talaq, “There are three reasons why I resist intervention by the state and the Supreme Court. First, it is a direct conflict between the religion and the court. The talaq that is not recognised by the court is valid as per the Shariah. Second, Muslims see this intervention as interference in the Shariah which is not at all welcome. Those who are talking about Uniform Civil Code are not taking into account the varieties that exist within the majority community of this country. Exceptions to the state’s law already exist when it comes to respecting religious requirements of people from different communities. For example, Sikhs are allowed to carry kirpan in public, Jain and Naga priests are allowed to walk naked in common spaces etc. Forcing the debate on Uniform Civil Code is resulting in bringing out various cultural and religious minorities of the country on a single platform and is creating a divide that can affect the communal harmony of the country as well. Third, the solution for triple talaq exists in Shariah itself. Some scholars have proposed changes in the nikahnama that will hold a man accountable by enforcing increase in the amount of alimony as a fine for practicing Talaq-e-biddah.”
Arguing in favour of state law, on the other hand, Gauhar Raza, a former CSIR chief scientist and now a filmmaker, said, “It is shameful that after all these years, triple talaq is still an issue. Without a doubt Talaq-e-biddah needs to go out of the window. But it must also be understood that the world we are living in can exist in peace with prevalence of state law over religious laws. For every believer, his or her God will be right. Every religious person will defend the holy texts of his/her religion which is why in a case of conflict between the state and the religion, the state should rule supreme.”
However, Raza, too, did not support the idea of Uniform Civil Code even as he advocated for state law to prevail. Raza said, “You cannot bring Uniform Civil Code in a country like India. The reason is not the resistance that it faces from different sections of our society, but the reason is those people who say that they support it. The right wing in India says that they want to see Uniform Civil Code established, but I don’t think they will ever let it happen because they have as much to lose as any other community if a Uniform Civil Code is in place. When the Supreme Court already gave its verdict in 2002 that giving talaq thrice in a single sitting is illegal, why are we fighting over it again? People need to understand that a certain section wants the pathless fighting to continue to create division among the people for political gains.”
Mariyam Arif, a homemaker and an Islam awareness activist, said, “For Muslims, the idea of who is Al-Haakim (law maker) is a fundamental aspect of the Islamic Aqeedah, i.e. Al-Hakim means ‘The Legislator’, the one who is sovereign, who has the right to make rules and laws, to decide the halal (permitted) and haram (prohibited) for mankind. The idea of ‘Man’ making laws is the idea of the Godless western society which relegates God to the confines of the Church and gives man the charge of man making laws.”
Criticising the claim that Islam does not promote gender equality, Mariyam said, “In Islam, the duty prescribed to the man is not viewed as better than the role prescribed to the woman. Both duties complement one another and are crucial for the family and society to function properly and with tranquility. Islam has nothing to do with terms like gender equality because it has established its own social system on a firm basis that ensures communal and societal cohesion. During the reign of the second Khalifa of Islam, Hazrat Umar, any man who exercised Talaq-e-biddah was flogged in public. This clearly proves that the Islamic system was never in favour of a practice that Allah considered detestable.”
Faizan Moquim, an M.Phil student at Jamia Millia Islamia said, “Triple talaq is not simply a matter of Sharia. It is also about power and authority. If a man wants to ‘rule’ over a woman, he needs sanctioned power. The very design of triple talaq enables the husband to exercise authority over wife. Why do we want to see wives always at the mercy of their husbands? Why are we investing such absolute powers in the husband at the cost of our women’s rights? Triple talaq is like concentrated acid that we were giving in the hand of husband. Triple talaq goes well with the politics of perpetuating inequality. And we are being served politics in the name of religion.
Freeda Khan, a triple talaq victim who wants the judiciary to bring in a law that makes triple talaq a punishable offence, said: “I was divorced by my husband, but it did not matter if I wanted a divorce or not. It did not matter what will happen to me or my children after the only breadwinner of the family decides that he no longer wants to be responsible for any of us. I went to qazis, maulanas, but nobody could make that man accountable for his deeds. My children suffered the most. I realised how much important it is for a woman to be self-sufficient. This is why I started educating young Muslim girls who often dropout of school or have never gone to a school in the first place. I have heard that Allah detests Talaq-e-biddah and that men who used to practice it in the times of prophets were flogged. But today we have no such provision.” Fareeda Khan is a core worker of a Delhi-based NGO “Pehchaan” that helps Muslim girls from poor backgrounds acquire a formal education.
Mariyam said, “The real problems from embracing a Western way of life that are deep rooted in Indian society have been ignored, instead Islam is being criticised.”