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Mumbai:
The Draft Divorce Bill, prepared ostensibly to make the divorce
process easier, is a direct attack on the Shariah and against the
personal law of Indian Muslims, argued by Maulana Badruddin Ajmal
in a press statement today from Mumbai.
Maul. Ajmal is the Member of
Parliament from Dhubri, Assam and national President of All India
United Democratic Front (AIUDF) who is also a member of Majlis-e
Shura of Darul Uloom Deoband and president of Assam State Jamiat
Ulame- Hind.
He decried the crude attempt to amend divorce laws that have stood
the test of time, is contrary to the marriage and personal laws of
the Indian Muslims.
The draft of the Marriage Laws (Amendment) Bill, crafted in
Maharashtra and sent to the centre has now received the cabinet’s
stamp of approval and may shortly be presented in parliament for
being passed.
Maul. Ajmal emphasized that Muslim personal law provides for the
safety and security of Muslim women in all respects and there is
no need to make any changes. Right from her nubile stage to when
she gets married and bears children and grandchildren, all her
needs are taken care of by her father, her husband and then her
children. She is genuinely entitled to a share of the property on
the death of her husband and other relatives.
Islam has given the wife, on having children, an eighth share of
the property and on not having children, a fourth share of the
total property of the husband. To increase her share to half will
deprive her children and other heirs of their rightful share in
the inheritance and this will undermine the safety and security
provided by the Shariah not only to the wife, but also to the
other closely related inheritors. And this is directly tempering
with the Islamic law of marriage and inheritance derived from the
Qur’an and Sunnah, he said.
If passed, the amendment proposes to provide women with a share of
their husband’s property, if they opt for divorce. It also seeks
to give adopted children the same rights as biological children.
The Qur’an has clearly laid down that adopted children cannot be
treated on the same basis as biological children, and the latter
cannot demand a share in the property of their guardians.
According to Maulana Badruddin Ajmal, if women after divorce, are
allowed a half share of their husband’s properties, it will let
the proverbial jinn out of the bottle. This will open the door for
conspiracies, greed and personal enrichment at the cost of the
husband and a situation might be created that might make it easy
for the woman to divorce her husband and grab share of her
property.
It must be borne in mind that as a householder, the man has not
only to take care of his wife and children, but even in some cases
his maternal and paternal grandparents, including brothers and
sisters.
It is easy for even a primary student of psychology to understand
that this move would disturb the husband-and-wife equation in the
house, and the wife, on the slightest pretext can insist on a
divorce.
Maul. Ajmal emphatically asserted that India‘s constitution has
given adequate protection to Muslim Personal Law and the proposed
amendment is another attempt to damage its edifice.
It is unfortunate that after the defeat in the recent elections
and being assailed from all sides, the UPA is weak in Center as
well as in the state of Maharshtra. Proposing a Bill like this
amounts trying to enter into one more dangerous territory, and any
nationwide protest may wipe out the remnants of its tattered
political raiment.
Muslims, ulama and intellectuals will not take this deleterious
move lying down and will try to oppose it tooth and nail, right
from the halls of parliament down to the streets. I will oppose
this Bill with all possible means and would also write to Hon’able
President of India, UPA Chairperson and the Prime Minister citing
Muslim’s complete disagreement on the propose Bill, said AIUDF
president Maulana Badruddin Ajmal.
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