Aiming at the Supreme Court’s decision to examine the extent to which courts can look into religious laws, All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said on Friday that the apex court cannot interfere in religious matters and “rewrite personal laws in the name of social reform”.
Personal laws can not be challenged as it’s a violation of Part III of the constitution.Muslim Personal Law Board
The Board said that triple talaq is a part of Quran-dictated customs, and it’s beyond the SC’s jurisdiction to test its validity. In a bid to justify the controversial Muslim personal law, AIMPLB has made some striking statements.
‘Women are Weaker, Men Make Better Decisions’
It proclaimed that “Shariah gives husband the right to divorce as men have greater power of decison-making and are more likely to control emotions.”
Their explanation says that when a marriage is in turmoil and “husband wants to get rid of wife”, legal compulsions and time consuming judicial process may come in the way. It could lead to “extreme cases where husband may resort to illegal ways of getting rid of her by murdering her. In such situations triple talaq is a better recourse,” AIMPLB told the Supreme Court.
It added that separation through court takes a longer time and could reduce prospects of remarriage. Although Islam asks for divorce for valid reasons, marriage would be terminated without good reasons too, AIMPLB told the Supreme Court.
It said that women are the weaker sex and “a man doesn’t need a woman for protection but she needs him for defence.”
‘Illicit Sex Emerges Whenever Polygamy is Banned’
The Board further says that polygamy is not for gratifying men’s lust, but is a social need. It tries to explain that whenever polygamy has been banned, it emerges from history that illicit sex has raised its head, and that Islam permits polygamy, but does not encourage it.
Marriage, talaq and polygamy are interwoven with religious and cultural rights of Muslim and cannot be interfered with by the legal courts.
SC to Look Into the Matter on 6 September
A bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice AM Khanwilkar said in June that it was an important issue concerning a large number of people, and that there were divergent views on the issue.
On 6 September, the apex court will examine to what extent courts can look into Muslim personal law, including triple talaq, if they violate the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
The bench had asked all the contesting parties, the central government included, to file their responses.
Senior Counsel Anand Grover had said that triple talaq had no sanction in Islam.
“They say that Supreme Court can’t interfere in their matters even if they are wrong,” advocate Farha Faiz earlier told the bench, asking if that was so, where then was need for a constitution and constitutional courts?
(With agency inputs.)
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