Muslim Law Board plans way out of instant talaq

In A bid to discourage the practice of saying talaq, talaq, talaq to annul a marriage, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board proposes to a...

In A bid to discourage the practice of saying talaq, talaq, talaq to annul a marriage, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board proposes to attach a note in Urdu to the nikahnaama (marriage contract), listing the ills of the triple talaq (divorce) system.

Both the options for divorce — triple talaq in one sitting and the other in which divorce is formalised in three sittings, each sitting separated by three months — are permitted under the shariat but experience has shown that the practice of triple talaq has often been misused by Muslim men.

‘‘The AIMPLB cannot change the shariat law. At best, it can focus on the ills of the triple talaq and introduce deterrent measures,’’ said Zafaryab Jilani, legal advisor to the Board.

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Earlier, this proposal was not on the agenda of the Law Board’s annual meeting in Kanpur on July 4 but with some members insisting, it now finds place. With the nikahnaama in Arabic, the basic purpose of attaching a note in Urdu is to spread the word. It can also be translated into other languages. ‘‘The Board cannot ban or abolish the system of triple talaq, one of the practices of divorce being followed for the last 1400 years,’’ Jilani pointed out.

Muslim women are at the receiving end of this practice. Even if a man, influence by liquor, were to utter talaq, talaq talaq, he divorces his wife.

Begum Naseem Iqtidar Ali, the only female member of the executive committee of the Law Board, wanted the Board to adopt a proposal for a provision in the nikahnaama which gives a woman the right to divorce her husband. This, she said, could be within the framework of the shariat.

‘‘Aurat ko bhi tafviz-e-talaq ka haq haasil hona chahiye (a woman too should have the right to divorce),’’ she said. Ali said the proposal was in the codified Muslim personal laws brought out by the AIMPLB in 2001. Law Board members have been divided on the two issues.