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Society
Move Beyond Koran:
Muslim Women
"How long are
you going to debate about the legal rights of women on issues regarding
triple talak (divorce), family planning, polygamy and nikahnama
(marriage contract)?" asked a visibly emotional Hasnat. Hasnat, former
principal of a degree college in Bangalore, was speaking at a recent
conference here on `Socio-economic Issues and Islamic Rights of Muslim
Women' held at Jamia Hamdard (JH), a south Delhi-based university.
"You have confused us enough with various interpretations of Koran. We can
all read the Holy Book and interpret it the way we want to. We do not want
you there to decide for us," she told the members of the All India Muslim
Law Board present at the conference. Hasnat voiced the feelings of many
other Muslim women activists, who often cheered and clapped when she
spoke.
Hasnat warned, "If you will not decide (about women's legal rights) then
we will approach the secular courts and we all know that Islamic courts
are in essence secular courts, for Islam is the most secular religion. And
the Koran has the most comprehensive knowledge about social and gender
justice. We only have to read it to know what action has to be taken."
The two-day conference, organized by the Centre for Studies on Indian
Muslims, Department of Islamic Studies at JH and the International
Foundation for Election Systems, aimed to initiate a dialogue between the
Board members, Muslim scholars and women's groups. The meet, the first of
its kind, also aimed to help the Ulema (a body of Muslim scholars
recognized as experts on Islamic law) and the Board to hold discussions
not only around 'currently debated issues of a model nikahnama
(marriage contract) and triple talak' but also women's empowerment,
health, education and the rights of victims of communal violence.
Women from several states had collected to express their anger and
frustration against the Board and its refusal to look at their specific
problems.
"Even though there are women members on the Board, they do not reflect the
diversity of Muslim women's voices within the community. A need was felt
to get other inputs," said Dr Yoginder Sikand, Head of the Department of
Islamic Studies, New Delhi. He added: "The women may not be recognized as
trained Ulema but they are well-versed in Islamic jurisprudence and
Koranic verses. We need to listen to them as well."
Sikand felt the media had a tendency to either sensationalize news about
the Muslim community or had a very narrow perspective about the
community's problems. Of course, Sikand said, part of the problem lay with
the community itself - it continues to talk about women's issues only in
the context of Islam, where religion acquires a dominant position. One of
the women's activists, formerly with the Muslim Women's Forum, said: "It's
time the Board and the Ulema wake up to the needs of the community. We do
not seem to be discussing important issues like empowerment of the
community, socio-economic status of Muslim women, their plight during and
after riots. We simply keep on focusing on legal reforms and have not
moved an inch on other matters."
At the conference, while the Board members remained orthodox and
conformist in their views, the women, from diverse backgrounds,
articulated new and unconventional ideas. Most said that Muslim women's
'marginalization' was not being addressed by the Board. They felt their
marginalization was largely due to the patriarchal interpretations of the
Shariat (Islamic law based on Koran).
Defending their position, the Board members said that they were trying to
work at reforms but were restricted by the Shariat. Haseena Hashia, a
Board member, said, "Not only do we have members representing different
schools of Islamic thought but we also have to consider the sentiments of
different Ulemas and Imams (leaders of Shiite Muslims). We have to respect
their views, strike a balance and make space within the accepted
framework."
Shareefa Khanum, an activist from Tamil Nadu (TN), along with Jameela
Nishat of NGO Shaheen (from Andhra Pradesh), denounced the triple talak
concept and urged the Board to take concrete steps at the forthcoming
model nikahnama meeting in Calicut, TN. Khanum earned the wrath of the
Ulemas early this year (2004) when she initiated an all-women Jammat
(gathering) which announced its plans to build a mosque of its own.
Khanum has also been campaigning against the recent spate of divorces via
email and on the telephone. "Although dowry is 'un-Islamic', it is a
widespread practice among Muslims as well. Why is it that the Ulema and
our male leaders conveniently overlook this practice, while doing next to
nothing for the plight of divorced women?" asked Khanum. Jameela raised
the issue of `contract' marriages and demanded why the Board was a silent
party to such marriages.
The women challenged the Board for its lack of courage to take strong
decisions. "If the Board recognizes the practice of triple talak in one
sitting as a reprehensible innovation, then how can it (triple talak) be
considered part of the Shariat? How can the Shariat include or sanctify
reprehensible innovations? " argued a woman activist from Uttar Pradesh.
"Much as I respect the Imams of the four schools of Sunni jurisprudence, I
don't regard them as infallible. They were products of their times, and
now times have changed. This demands that we reflect on the Koran and
Prophetic traditions and develop new ways of understanding our laws," she
insisted.
Encouraged by the prevailing mood, many women talked about other
contentious issues like polygamy and birth control. "A woman should be
given the right to add a clause in the nikahnama that her husband would
not be allowed to marry another woman while he is married to her,"
insisted one activist. "If Islam has so many rights for women, then why
these rights are not given?" questioned Khanum. In fact, bypassing the
Board and the Ulema, Khanum has translated, from Arabic to Tamil, specific
portions of the Koran that directly deal with women's rights and
distributed the material to women in several TN villages. "The Koran is an
open book; women should interpret it themselves. This is what Islam
demands - that all believers, men and women, should read and understand
it."
The Board, which has 201 members, includes 25 women members and only
Naseem Iqtidar Ali (from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh) is on the executive
committee. "The Board has no infrastructure or resources. It was
constituted in 1972 to provide guidelines and protect the Shariat,"
explained Ali. She felt the Board should not be expected to resolve
individual cases of dowry, divorce or polygamy. Only when Shariat laws are
being challenged, as in the Shah Bano case, should the Board play a
pivotal role. Otherwise, the Board is limited in its function, she said.
"The truth is that it is limited in its vision as well," countered one of
the women activists.
– Ashima Kaul
November 14, 2004
By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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