New book: Triple Talaq, a 'weapon' for 'cruel husbands'

Amid a raging debate over law on triple talaq, a new book says that Indian Muslim's practices of divorce have now become a "weapon in the hands of a cruel husband" that prompts the need for Islamic legal scholars and jurists to address these issues with an open mind to resolve them in the light of Quran, Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic history.

In his new book 'Towards the Renaissance: Shibli and Maulana Thanvi on Sharia' released recently, Furqan Ahmad of New Delhi-based Indian Law Institute (ILI) says Muslims regard their personal law as the "sole basis and guiding spirit" for every action of their daily life.

However, he says some aspects of this law due to its misrepresentation have become "fiercely debatable" issue in the present times.

The Supreme Court had banned triple talaq in the country and BJP-led NDA government's attempts to criminalise instant divorce has run into a wall for treating a civil issue as a criminal matter.

Citing the example of triple talaq, Ahmad, a professor in ILI, says that divorce sanctioned in Islam is not what Muslim men enjoy now and this right is used "sometimes for petty reason (for) eg if wife does not prepare delicious meals the husband says “talaq talaq talaq” and, as a consequence, the poor lady would be on the road".

Noting that divorce in Quran is permitted as a last resort when marriage has lost its purposes, he says the Indian Muslim’s practices of divorce "have now become a weapon in the hands of a cruel husband" to get rid of their wives for the "sake of pleasure" and marrying another woman of their choice.

"Husbands divorce their wives like they put off their old, torn clothes without giving their dues mentioned in the Islamic injunctions and practically given in the so-called Islamic society. This triple divorce formula is unfortunately enforceable here and is the root cause of the various problems cropping up later i.e. maintenance of wives and children, guardianship etc," Ahmad says.

He argues that there is a need to reconsider the rules of family law relating to Muslims in India keeping in view the social conditions of women in this country so that "inequality may be avoided and the oppression on women-folk can be controlled".

"The present social and political order has rendered it necessary for the Islamic legal scholars and jurists to pay attention and address these transient issues/problems with an open mind to resolve them in the light of Quran, Islamic jurisprudence and Islamic history. Some of the jurists in the past performed their duties in this regard very well," he says.