Why is the Muslim Personal Law Board Crying Hoarse Over a Non-Existent Uniform Civil Code?
By
Arshad Alam, New Age Islam
30 April
2022
They Should
Wait For A Draft Before Declaring It ‘Anti-Muslim’
Main
Points:
1. The UCC was
termed anti-Muslim by the AIMPLB in its meeting on the 24th April.
2. This, when
there is no draft as yet of the UCC circulated either by the central or any
state government.
3. Shouldn’t a
draft first emerge and then be debated and discussed within the community
before arriving at any decision?
4. This is only
adding to the perception that Muslims are always opposed to the government.
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A couple of
days ago, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) issued a statement
terming the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) ‘unconstitutional’ and against the
‘minorities’, particularly Muslims and various tribal communities. The general
secretary Khalid Saifullah Rahmani argued that “separate personal laws have
been granted for minorities and tribal classes according to their customs,
beliefs and traditions, which does not interfere with the constitution in any
way”. The press note also claims that the real purpose of the UCC is to divert
the attention of people from issues like inflation, price rise and unemployment
and has been brought to promote an agenda of hatred and discrimination. Rahmani
also added that “the UCC is not acceptable to Muslims at all”.
This comes
in the context where the government of Uttarakhand, Himachal and Uttar Pradesh
have started talking in terms of a UCC. Home Minister Amit Shah recently also
stated that the Centre was toying with the idea of UCC.
As a
self-appointed body of Indian Muslims, the AIMPLB had to react. But this
reaction of the AIMPLB is hardly new. In 2016, they, along with many other
organizations had come up with a similar statement rejecting the UCC. The
curious thing though, is that all this while there has been no draft of the UCC
that has been circulated. It is almost as if the Board is making itself clear
on something which is not in existence at the moment. Muslims are certainly
under a lot of pressure in the current dispensation and even before that. A
perception has arisen and taken root about Muslims: that they are always in
opposition to whatever the government has to say. Through a series of measures
like the anti-CAA movement, etc., that perception has only solidified under the
current ideological government. Given such a situation, wouldn’t it be prudent
on the part of the Board to issue a much more measured statement rather than a
blanket condemnation?
Since there
is no draft of the UCC per se, we do not know what the government has in mind.
And certainly, in the context of the bewildering religious and cultural
diversity that exists in India, the UCC is not just a Muslim issue but will
also be looked at critically within many Hindu communities as well. So why
should Muslims be the first to issue a condemnation? What purpose does such a
politics achieve except for re-establishing that Muslims are always in
opposition to whatever the government does. Why couldn’t the AIMPLB simply say
that since the draft of the UCC is not yet ready, it will be premature to
comment on it. One can only oppose or support a policy when it has been
thoroughly studied and debated within the community. But then, the AIMPLB
doesn’t want to lose that oppositional space and hence even without the
existence of a draft, it has rejected the UCC!
Moreover,
there is a canard being spread that with the UCC, the Muslim faith will cease
to exist in India. Nothing can be more ridiculous than this. The UCC does not
mean that all laws in the country will be replaced by a Hindu law. For example,
aspects of UCC are in existence in Goa but Muslims in that state have continued
to practice their faith like before. The way in which UCC needs to be
understood is that it should make the personal laws of all communities
harmonious with the constitutional vision. But we know that when it comes to
the Islamic faith, certain provisions are not at all in tune with the
republican vision. Take for example the issue of divorce which should be a
matter of right for all women irrespective of religion. But the Muslim personal
law does not give this right to its women. She is only entitled to take the
khula which is basically a request that she be divorced, which the husband can
refuse at will. Also, the Muslim women is denied inheritance if she initiates
khula proceedings.
Next, we
should also look at the issue of inheritance within Muslim society. According
to the Muslim personal law, women and men cannot inherit equally. We need to
recall that Islam was one of the first religions to grant property rights to
women. But that spirit should have continued and it should also have been the
first religion to grant equal property rights to women. It didn’t because it
remained frozen. On the other hand, religions who had no concept of property
rights for women could evolve themselves to the extent that now men and women
can inherit equally. What a shame this is for the Muslim Sharia to evolve with
changing times. Certain aspects of the Hindu personal law are also
discriminatory but then there is no one who argues that since it is divinely
ordained, it cannot be changed. However, we Muslims make such arguments when it
comes to denial of rights of women. What is the logic behind not giving women
their due share (according to Islamic law) in agricultural property? When it
comes to the Ulama, the misogyny is so bad that they wouldn’t be willing to
give even what is promised to women in their personal laws. Just think of what
the institution of Meher Maafi by which the Muslim wife is pressured
formally and informally, to forgo even the little amount that she gets as part
of her marriage.
Muslims
must realize that their religion is not special. Followers of all religions
believe that their laws are God given. But with times, religions have been able
to move along and have changed their discriminatory laws. The same cannot be
said about Muslims leading to the perception that they (Muslims) are rigid,
orthodox and inflexible. It also leads to the perception that Muslims always
keep their religion above national needs. Muslims have always countered this
argument by stating that it is the Indian constitution that gives them the
right to free expression of religion. This is certainly true but the same
constitution also demands certain liberalism and sensitivity towards gender
justice.
When will
Muslims be in a position to fulfil those constitutional obligations?
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A
regular contributor to NewAgeIslam.com, Arshad Alam is a writer and researcher
on Islam and Muslims in South Asia.
URL: https://newageislam.com/the-war-within-islam/aimplb-uniform-civil-code/d/126900
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