Triple Talaq: What Do Indian Muslim Women Really Think?

The Quint spoke to Muslim women across the country and this is what they had to say.

According to Muslim personal law based on an interpretation of the Sharia, a Muslim man can divorce his wife by pronouncing talaq thrice. (Photo: The Quint)

(In a landmark judgement, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, on 22 August, declared the practice of Triple Talaq unconstitutional. A five-judge bench of Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Fali Norman, Uday Umesh Lalit and Abdul Nazeer struck down the practice on the grounds that it goes against the Shariat and the basic tenets of the Quran. In light of the judgement, The Quint is reposting this documentary that sought to document Muslim women’s thoughts on the practice of instant, unilateral divorce.)

Under the practice of Triple Talaq, predominantly practised by the Sunni sect of Islam, a man can divorce his wife by simply saying “I divorce you” or “talaq” three times in one sitting. While the practice has no mention in the Quran, which lays out elaborate stages and conditions for the procedure of a divorce, it has been part of certain historical traditions, also explaining its existence in contemporary Indian society.

Video Editor: Mohd Irshad Alam