Frontline
July 1999
Special Report

Beyond the veil

An all-India conference of Muslim women demands radical changes in the existing Muslim Personal Law

Ab bana pardon ka parcham
Har jagah lahrayenge
Hum yahan insaniyat ka
Raj jaldi layenge

(Our veils are now our flags
That we’ll flutter everywhere
Soon we shall inaugurate
The reign of humanity here)

The sight was refreshing and reassuring. Over 200 Muslim women from over 50 grass-root organisations from all over the country, each a living symbol of individual and collective struggles against an oppressive and patriarchal religious hierarchy, meeting together in Mumbai last month to demand radical changes in the existing personal law for India’s Muslims.

The outcome was a radical charter of reform that has been addressed to the All–India Muslim Personal Law Board, demanding change. But what if it does not respond, refusing as it did to delegate a single mufti to attend the conference despite the invitation? Setting up of an alternate personal law board at the end of a year–long campaign, networking and lobbying for change among groups all over the country. Or else, the constitution of an all–woman jamaat, which could settle disputes presently adjudicated upon by male muftis!

What concretely emerged with a wide consensus at the conclusion of the three–day conference were the following immediate demands that are being made of the existing Muslim Personal Law Board:

Ø a ban on unilateral triple talaq;

Ø registration of all talaqs;

Ø maintenance for divorced women beyond the iddat period;

Ø guardianship of the children to the mother, whatever her earning capacity unless she wishes other–wise;

Ø no deferment in payment of mehr after a divorce takes place, in a form that appreciates in value over time.

The conference, ‘Muslim Personal Law and Women’ was the culmination of a whole year of mobilisation launched at the initiative of Awaaz-e-Niswan, a Mumbai–based group working with Muslim women.

As the participants who hailed from diverse regions spread all over India –Cochin, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Delhi, Barelli, Bihar spoke, sharing their real–life experiences before articulating demands, there was no whiff of any defensiveness or insecurity that is apparent whenever men gather at other fora to discuss the issue. No cry of ‘Islam in Danger" was raised; on the contrary, women affected by an unrelenting religious and political readership articulated their demands maturely and cogently. "As a minority within a minority community, there is no support structure to protect our rights,’’ said Haseena Khan, of Awaaz–e–Niswan, pointing out that even the limited provisions in the existing Muslim personal law were not implemented properly.

Intellectuals and academics from Delhi and supportive feminist groups were present at the conference as silent observers. Muslim women themselves, from grass–root level groups whose membership included barely literate divorcees, among others chalked out both the charter of demands and the future strategy.

While formulating the first demand for a ban on triple talaq, participants pointed out that despite the fact that the Muslim marriage is a contract, it is not formalised through registration but is dependent on the maulana who performs it. "Since there is no registration, the husband can even deny that a woman is his wife. It is the same with divorce. A woman has no way of knowing whether her husband has another wife,’’ said another participant.

Instances were cited of contradictory fatwas issued by the same mufti depending on who paid him more — the boy’s family or the girl’s. Hence the need for codification of at least those aspects of Muslim law which relate to marriage and divorce.

Other demands that were articulated at the conference included one for the standardisation of the nikaahnama (marriage contract), equal rights regarding adoption and guardianship of the children and the right to matrimonial residence and property.

The voices of middle–aged mothers and even grandmothers, heads covered by dupattas, expressing anguish followed by some solutions collectively voiced. That was what made this conference so different. The participation by teachers, scholars and lawyers lent weight to the growing assertiveness of Indian Muslim women.

Will the Muslim Personal Law Board have the courage to rise above its own narrow predilections or is it doomed to be rendered irrelevant in the coming years?


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