After The Criminalisation of Triple Talaq, Women Face Abandonment
Men Don't
Want To Divorce Because Of the Fear Of Being Jailed
Main
Points:
1. The Supreme
Court had declared Triple Talaq a criminal offence.
2. Triple Talaq
cases have been reduced after its criminalisation.
3. Men now
abandon their wives.
4. Abandoned
women can not re-marry.
5. Abandoned
women are getting depressed.
-----
New
Age Islam Staff Writer
2 August
2022
On 30 July
2019, the Supreme Court had passed a landmark judgment on instant Talaq or
Triple Talaq declaring it unconstitutional and a criminal offence with a
provision of 3 year jail term. Some feminists and NGOs had been pushing for a
ban on Triple Talaq for years and finally the central government took the
initiative.
The Muslim
organisations particularly the AIMPLB defended the Triple Talaq and termed any
change in divorce laws an interference with the Muslim personal laws but a
large section of moderate Muslims, particularly Muslim women had welcomed the
verdict hoping that the criminalisation of Triple Talaq would end their plight.
The ban indeed ended the trend of instant Talaq among Muslim men but it created
another problem of abandonment. Now the men who are not happy with their wives
do not divorce them but desert them keeping their future hanging in balance. In
this situation, the women who want to get out of the messy marriage cannot use
the option of remarriage without getting divorced. This has been causing them a
lot of mental torture and misery.
Some women
have even gone into depression. Now the women want to be divorced but the men
do not for fear of being jailed. The Kerala High Court in 2021 passed a
judgment empowering abandoned women to initiate Khula but that too has not been
of much help because of non-cooperation from men. And the judgment of the
Kerala High Court is not binding outside the state.
The Indian
government has declared 1 August as the Muslim Women's Empowerment Day but it
has only a symbolic significance since the law has not provided wholesome
remedy for their problem.
It is a
fact that if honest steps are not taken to solve a problem and only political
interests are kept in mind, the problem gives birth to another problem. This is
what happened in this case. The Muslim clergy refused to acknowledge the
severity of the problem of Triple Talaq and to take any step towards Ijtihad
(contingent decision) as was done by the second caliph Hadhrat Umar in view of
the unhealthy trend of lengthy process of divorce. Hadhrat Umar's contingent
order of validating Instant Triple Talaq in view of the contemporary needs in
favour of women was prolonged and was made a permanent rule. It should have
been stopped as soon as the problem had disappeared.
The Quranic
procedure of Talaq stipulates divorce in a phased manner. But the Hanafi jurisprudence
insists on what can be called Talaq-e-Umari as it was introduced by Hadhrat
Umar as an administrative step to solve a local problem.
The
widespread practice of Triple Talaq caused social problems in Muslim societies.
Divorce became rampant and many of the divorces were given in a fit of anger
and for flimsy reasons. Still the Indian clergy insisted that Triple Talaq was
in accordance with Shariah. Some Ulema though acknowledged that instant Triple
Talaq was not right but maintained that once a man pronounced Triple Talaq,
divorce happens and it cannot be annulled. They argued that when a man shoots
another, he dies. Even if the killer says that he shot him in a fit of anger
and had no intention of killing him, the man is killed and cannot come alive.
But they ignore the fact that this analogy is not correct.
Pronouncing
three words and shooting someone with a gun is not the same. Islamic
jurisprudence says that when a fasting man eats something by mistake, his
fasting does not break though the purpose of fasting is to remain hungry. After
eating, the man does not remain hungry, still he is considered fasting because
his intention was not to eat.
In spite of
the severity of the problem, the Ulema did not try to find a solution to the
problem while Muslim women desperately looked for a way out. Finally, the
central government had to take the initiative and the matter went to the court.
The court declared the practice unconstitutional and the defenders of Triple
Talaq could not give clinching arguments in favour of Triple Talaq from the
Quran. If the Ulema had taken steps to ban Triple Talaq and Muslims were
sensitised about the illegitimacy of the act, they would have paved the way for
reform in the Muslim society and would have kept the government and the
judiciary at bay.
Instead they
encouraged Men to use Triple Talaq to the disadvantage of Muslim women though
Triple Talaq is banned in many Islamic countries including Bangladesh. There
the husband and wife have to apply to the designated court for divorce and are
given three months’ time to withdraw the application. After 3 months the
procedure is started.
It is time
the clergy in India woke up to the problem of abandonment before the government
takes another insensitive step to prevent abandonment.
-----
3
Years of Triple Talaq Law: How It Has Left Many Muslim Women Abandoned
By
Fatima Khan
30 Jul 2022
Since
getting married on 3 December 2020, Syeda Ayesha hasn’t had a moment of respite
or peace. Her husband and in-laws have made her life “intolerable”, she says.
From abusing her for not getting pregnant, to selling off her jewelry without
her consent, to petty acts like removing all the bulbs from her room so that
she is forced to stay in dark—24-year-old Ayesha says she had a miserable time
in marriage.
In May
2022, her husband dropped her back at her father’s place and said he doesn’t
want to live with her anymore. “So I said, why don’t you divorce me then? It
will make my life easier,” the Hyderabad-resident told The Quint.
Ayesha has been abandoned by her husband.
Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint
----
But her
husband retorted saying that that’s exactly what he doesn’t want. “He said he
knows Triple Talaq is now a criminal offense, and he doesn’t want to go to
jail. So he will not divorce me, nor will he keep me with him. Latka Ke
Chodha Hua Hai,” she says.
‘Latka Ke
Choda Hua Hai’ or ‘he has left me hanging’, is a common lament among several
women at the Shaheen Women's Resource and Welfare Association—a centre in
Telengana’s Hyderabad which has been working for the victims of Triple Talaq
for decades.
Except in
the three years since the parliament passed the law to criminalise Triple Talaq
on 30 July 2019, the women’s help centre hardly ever gets complaints of women
being subject to Triple Talaq. Instead, all they get are grievances and appeals
from hapless Muslim women who have been deserted by their husbands. The
criminalisation of the Triple Talaq has given rise to a new problem:
abandonment.
'He Has
Left Me Hanging'
Like
Ayesha, there are several women who have been left in a limbo by their
husbands—who now know how to circumvent the Triple Talaq law by simply cutting
off all ties with the wife and not officially giving her a divorce.
Jameela
Nishat has been running the Shaheen Women help centre since 2002, and says that
the criminalisation of Triple Talaq has done more harm than good for many
Muslim women. “The criminalisation and the enactment of the Triple Talaq law
was publicised so much that today every single Muslim man knows he shouldn’t
utter the word ‘talaq’. Of course, there are other routes to get a divorce, but
there is such fear among them now, that they are simply thinking why should
they get involved in this mess. Abandoning the wife seems like a far easier
option,” Nishat told The Quint.
In 2017,
two years before the The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act,
2019, also known as the ‘Triple Talaq law’ was passed by the parliament, the
Supreme Court had struck down the practice terming it ‘unconstitutional’ in a
landmark verdict.
Many
critics had pointed out that since the practice was already nullified and
invalidated by the Supreme Court, it needn’t be criminalised. “After the
verdict, the three words—Talaq, talaq, talaq—stopped holding any meaning. So if
a man would pronounce Triple Talaq, we could go to a Qazi and argue for it to
not be deemed as a divorce. There was more scope for negotiation and
reconciliation then,” Nishat said.
Nishat
added that the centre may not be getting cases of Triple Talaq anymore but has
been working overtime to get abandoned Muslim women some sort of
rehabilitation. “Of all the cases the centre has handled since July 2019, 32
per cent are those of Muslim women being abandoned. The rest are cases of
domestic violence, dowry, or some familial issues. Hardly 1 or 2 might have
been cases of Triple Talaq,” she said.
"This
is far higher than the number of abandonment cases the centre would receive
before the Triple Talaq criminalisation," she added.
Many
Complications Even With 'Khula'
In cases
where the man isn’t giving Talaq, but the woman wants divorce, the option of
‘khula’ is available under Islamic law or Sharia—wherein the wife can initiate
the divorce. But that isn’t an easy option either.
Shaheen
Begum, 24, got married in 2018, but within months of the marriage, her husband
dropped her back to her mother’s place. He would bring her back temporarily,
only to send her back again. This went on for a while after which Shaheen
decided to confront him in 2021. “But he said he won’t divorce me either. Usne
kaha tu aise hi sadh (He said you keep suffering like this),” she told The
Quint.
So, Shaheen
tried to avail khula, but even that requires husband’s consent. But Shaheen’s
husband never showed up for any of the proceedings. “The Qazi kept sending him
notices, but he never came. Nor did he ever sign on the document of khula. I am
stuck for life now,” she says.
Shaheen has been abandoned by her husband.
Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint
-----
However, in
April 2021, the Kerala High Court passed an important verdict saying that a
woman can unilaterally proceed with a khula, and doesn’t need the husband’s
consent for it.
“That
verdict injects judicial sanction in an extra judicial divorce. However, it can
be seen as a positive solution to the problems women face in getting Khula
since Qazis are not empowered to do that under the Indian law. But the issue is
that the Kerala judgment is a binding law only in Kerala, and merely a
persuasive law everywhere else,” Delhi-based lawyer Nabeela Jamil told The
Quint.
Shaheen has
now become a patient of depression, and is taken care of by her mother. “I
regret getting her married to that man. It would be better if he just gave her
the talaq so she could move on, but she can’t,” Shaheen’s mother says.
Matters of
Money
At the
heart of many of these conflicts is also the question of money and sustenance.
Mehr is a pre-decided amount of money supposed to be given by the husband to
the wife on getting married.
“In the
case of a Talaq, the husband must give Mehr as well as maintenance for the Iddat
period (three months after divorce),” Nabeela explains.
Soon after
26-year-old Reshma Begum delivered a child, her husband began saying he doesn't
want to live with her anymore.
However, he
refused to give her a Talaq, and instead forced her to get a khula. But he got
certain clauses added to the khula document freeing him of the need to give
mehr or maintenance money. Reshma, who hasn’t had formal education, said she
didn’t realise until much later what had happened. “I am illiterate so I
couldn’t understand the document. I eventually understood that even in my
freedom I was left more helpless than before,” she says.
Reshma has been abandoned by her husband.
Chetan Bhakuni/ The Quint
-----
In such
situations, women who have been abandoned without a divorce, cannot marry
anyone else either.
Ayesha
Siddiqa, a mother of a 17-year-old has been wanting to end her marriage of 18
years for some time now. “I want to settle down with a partner who is
supportive and kind, so that I can also live my life peacefully and fulfil my
desires. But without a divorce, I can’t move on,” she said.
The
Politics of Muslim Women's 'Empowerment'
Zakia
Soman, founder of the Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) which was one of
the petitioners in the SC case which eventually led to the ban on the Triple
Talaq, said that criminalisation may have led to deterrence in the number of
Triple Talaq cases, but the picture isn’t entirely rosy.
“Even after
criminalisation, most police stations across the country don’t want to file a
case under the law. The woman has to run from pillar to post to get a case
registered. This is because the whole system is patriarchal,” Soman told The
Quint.
The
BJP-government has marked 1 August as ‘Muslim Women Empowerment Day’ to mark
the date the Triple Talaq law was enacted. Soman however termed it as an
eyewash.
“It’s mere
politics. One, the law which was supposed to help them hasn’t been implemented
properly. And secondly, Muslim women are also citizens of the country. When
there are bulldozers being used on Muslim houses, when there is so much
communal violence and hate...how do you expect them to be empowered,” Soman
added.
'Muslim
Family Laws Need To Be Made Gender-Just'
Experts say
that for Muslim women to ultimately feel more empowered, their marital and
divorce rights need to be strengthened.
“Qazis need
to be empowered to dissolve a nikah in cases where the woman applies for a
khula and the husband refuses to show up or co-operate despite repeated
attempts. That will enable more Muslim women to come out of toxic marriages or
one where their husbands don't want to be with them either, but are reluctant
to give Talaq," said Afrah Saleem, a PhD researcher at the University of
Hyderabad who is working on Women's Rights and Legal Pluralism.
But beyond
the immediate question of divorce, a more comprehensive reworking of the Muslim
family laws need to be done too, said experts.
Zakia Soman
said that the Muslim Marriage Act and the Muslim family laws need to be made
more gender-just. “The Muslim family laws need to be revamped and made properly
gender-just, in accordance with the Quranic injunctions of equality, which are
also in line with our constitutional principles of justice,” she said.
Source: 3
Years of Triple Talaq Law: How It Has Left Many Muslim Women Abandoned
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/ban-triple-talaq-face-abandonment/d/127629
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