“They want to keep Muslim education in Muslim extremist’s hands, entirely free from the government control”, the affidavit said.
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India’s Supreme Court is now hearing a petition filed by women’s rights activists who want the judiciary to declare triple talaq – where Muslim men can divorce by simply stating their intention three times verbally – as unconstitutional.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) had in its response defended both polygamy and triple talaq saying that courts have no jurisdiction to examine the issue as it relates to their religion based on the Quran and Sharia law.
On September 2, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) told the Supreme Court that personal laws of a community can not be “re-written” in the name of social reforms and opposed pleas on issues including alleged gender discrimination faced by Muslim women in divorce cases.
In the affidavit filed by the AIMPLB it was mentioned that if the practice is discontinued, a man could murder or burn his wife alive to get rid of her.
The group said the AIMPLB’s justification for polygamy was “bizarre” as it had suggested the practice of a man having up to four wives stemmed from a concern and sympathy for women.
India has separate sets of personal laws for each religion governing marriage, divorce, succession, adoption and maintenance. If men are superior and they have more patience, then what is the need for triple talaq.
The Muslim Women’s Quest for Equality filed an affidavit recently in the Supreme Court against triple talaq and the Board’s stand on the matter.
Muslims make up more than 13 percent of the country’s 1.2 billion people, yet they are among some of the most marginalised communities.
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In the same hearing, interveners Zakia Soman and Noor Jahan had said that triple talaq as is being practised has no sanction of Islam.
