The Tyranny Of Triple Talaq

By Moin Qazi

29 March, 2016
Countercurrents.org

Undeterred by strong opposition from influential Islamic bodies to judicial scrutiny of Muslim personal law practices, the Supreme Court has decided to examine the legality of triple talaq by entertaining a Muslim woman's petition that this mode of divorce be declared unconstitutional as it allowed Muslim men to treat women like "chattel".

The court's decision indicates its inclination to examine the legality of triple talaq in the face of strong opposition from All India Muslim Personal Law Board and Jamiat-e-Ulema. Both had said Muslim personal law was Quran-based and not enacted by the legislature and hence was beyond the ambit of judicial scrutiny.

Talaq, talaq, talaq — the three dreaded words — if uttered by a husband in quick succession could, in less than a blink of an eye, unilaterally bring to an end the marital life of a Muslim woman. Instant divorce is currently allowed under Islamic law. In India, Muslim men have sent triple talaq by text, email, Facebook, Skype and Whats App. While it has always been somewhat easy for Muslim men to divorce their wives, the use of digital medium makes it almost instantaneous. while the clerical aristocracy feel it is sanctioned by scriptures, the modernists ,and even dissenters within the tradionalists camp disagree and say that these laws are outdated and harmful and antithetical to the precepts of the Qur’an .They feel corrupted cultural practices dominated by male chauvinists have distorted the true spirit of the Qur’an which accords a very dignified position to women.

It may come as a shock to numerous Muslims and others, the Qur’an does not prescribe this form of divorce at all.It is not just Indian Muslim women who are suffering. In some countries in the Middle East and Malaysia, mobile devices have been used to end marriages by simply texting talaq, talaq, talaq. And before the advent of mobile devices, there were instances when telephone calls, snail mail and even telegrams were used to communicate divorce.

The other point of view is that technology is just a means of communication so it doesn’t matter whether a divorce is expressed personally or through Facebook, e-mail or Skype. However, the ease of such methods has increased the instances of divorce. Moreover, with no means to question divorce, Muslim women are at the receiving end.

In fact, the Qur’an has specifically laid down a formula of a three-tiered calibrated divorce, keeping in mind human frailties. The first two stages give an opportunity to the estranged couple to reconsider their decision and, if possible, reconcile and resume their married relationship.

But it is only the third and last step, if traversed, that would make the talaq irrevocable. Therefore, the most important injunction in the Qur’an, in this regard, is that after each pronouncement of talaq there has to be compulsorily a period of waiting or iddat that provides a timeout to reflect on the alternatives to a divorce.

And, neither the uttering of talaq, talaq, talaq in one sentence nor a single pronouncement to indicate an intention of irrevocably dissolving the marriage had the approval of Prophet Muhammad.

The truth is; the concept of instant triple talaq is alien to Islam as it goes against the very spirit of the procedure of divorce laid down in the Quran. Even the Prophet when he was informed about a man who gave three divorces at a time was so enraged that he said, “Are you playing with the Book of Allah who is Great and Glorious while I am still amongst you?” The acclaimed Islamic scholar Ibn Taymiya rejected the traditionalist view on the "triple divorce" -

The grounds for a decree of dissolution of a marriage according to the Muslim Act followed in some Muslim countries are (a) whereabouts of a husband are not known for four years, (b) husband has neglected or did not provide for her maintenance or he has been sentenced to imprisonment for seven years, (c) husband has failed to perform without reasonable cause marital obligations for a period of three years, (d) he is impotent or suffering from leprosy, (e) he is cruel and attacks his wife or compels her to adopt an immoral life, and (f) he obstructs her religious duties and he has more than one wife without her consent.

Despite the Qur’anic injunction against instant triple talaq, Muslim orthodoxy in India, spearheaded by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has always defended the triple talaq terming any suggestion to reform Muslim personal law as motivated and tantamount to religious interference. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board was established in 1972-1973 at a time when then Government of India was trying to subvert sharia’h law applicable to Indian Muslims through parallel legislation. The immediate backdrop was the introduction of the Adoption Bill in Parliament. While introducing the Bill the government had described it as “the first step towards Uniform Civil Code”. This triggered an alert among the ulema, which immediately went on the offensive, decrying the Bill as an attempt to dilute, the separate identity of Indian Muslims

It is certain that AIMLB realizes the coercive element in an instant divorce through triple talaq but, on account of the historical, cultural and political context it took birth, it wants to adopt a cautious approach .Probably the combative posture of the Board is the fact that the initiative fro the abolition has come from ,an organization that has absolutely no base in the community and also doesn’t have the any mandate of the community. Had the proposal come from Muslim intellectuals commanding respect and support in the community, the verdict may have been different.

Ironically, instantaneous triple talaq is banned in several Islamic countries around the world, including Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Iran, Indonesia and Bangladesh. Many of these countries have also set up arbitration councils that try to help couples resolve their differences.

Muslim institutions must understand that Qur’anic ontology revolves around the principles of justice, fairness and equity, and therefore, any law that contravenes or abridges the rights arising out of these standards of ethics automatically becomes unacceptable. But the continued refusal of the Muslim patriarchy to see reason makes it imperative to analyze the procedure of talaq in the Koran to expose the illegitimacy of the stand of some of the clergy.

Moin Qazi is a well known banker, author and Islamic researcher .He holds doctorates in Economics and English. He was Visiting Fellow at the University of Manchester. He has authored several books on religion, rural finance, culture and handicrafts. He is author of the bestselling book Village Diary of a Development Banker. He is also a recipient of UNESCO World Politics Essay Gold Medal and Rotary International’s Vocational Excellence Award. He is based in Nagpur and can be reached at [email protected]