Recently, the deputy charity commissioner of Mumbai deregistered Mohakkama-E-Sharia Darul Quza Rehmaniya, a Jogeshwari-based Public Trust which functioned as a sharia court. Faske Nikah or dissolution or annulment of the marriage was among the “several illegal activities” the trust was found to be involved in.
This significant order came following Crawford Market resident Rizwana Afzal Shaikh complained to the charity commissioner that the trust, run by Maulana Abdul Hassain Rahi Kazi and a few others, wanted to dissolve her marriage through talaq-e-ahsan, one of the forms of divorce under Islamic law in which the husband pronounces talaq or divorce just once. In this form, the husband can revoke the divorce any time during the iddat period lasting three lunar months. The divorce becomes irrevocable only after the iddat period ends without any reconciliation. Under Muslim Personal Law, this is recognized as a valid form of divorce since triple talaq or talaq-e-biddat (pronouncing triple talaq in one sitting) is illegal, void and criminalized in the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriages) Act, 2019.
Shaikh, who married Vile Parle resident Afzal Shaikh in 2005, and they have two children alleged that she was “driven” out of home in December 2020. Subsequently she received a notice from the Trust telling her that her husband wants to give divorce through talaq-e-ahsan. She says she ignored this notice and, after 15 days, she received another notice which she replied to and personally visited the Trust’s office.
“I do not want a divorce as I have spent nearly two decades with my husband, and we have two children who live with their father. Where will I go as I have no one except my old mother to turn to,“ said Shaikh.
After the mediation efforts failed, two cases, in family court for “restitution of the conjugal rights, and Bandra magistrate court under section 498A alleging cruelty and domestic violence, were filed.
In the backdrop of deregistration of the Trust for allegedly carrying out illegal activities, including dissolution of the marriages, approaching Qazis for extra-judicial dissolution of marriage has assumed a menacing proportion. There are many self-appointed Qazis who deliver “swift order” for a fee. Since men are afraid to pronounce triple talaq as it is now criminalised, they are increasingly using the “services” of these “extra-judicial courts” to end their marriage.
“Women like Rizwana have no other option but to approach courts to get justice. She says her marriage is still valid and wants to return to her husband’s house,” says Advocate Farhana Shah who represents Shaikh.
Since the triple talaq was made illegal, the dissolution of the marriage through sharia courts’ interventions has become an “alternative route”, say many Qazis in the city.
Mufti Faiyaz Alam Qasmi, a Muslim-Personal Law Board-appointed Qazi says that he worked from Nagpada for 13 years (2013 to 2026) before he recently moved to Malad.
“In the last 13 years, we received around 2500 cases, mostly by women seeking khula (dissolution of marriage). I think most women are seeking khula because of harassment. No Qazi has courage to dissolve a marriage through triple talaq today,” says Qasmi. He adds that the shariah courts are still the better option.
Noorjahan Safia Niaz, co-founder of Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, a co-petitioner in the instant triple talaq case in the Supreme Court, says that men are increaasingly approaching shariah courts.
“The anti-triple talaq law is not the final solution. Unless Muslim Personal laws are codified, men will always find a way to harass women with talaq even if it is not triple talaq,” says Niaz.
Educationist and businessman Nasir Jamal who is disturnbed at this “mess” observes: “Many Qazis have opened their dukan or shops and need to be educated properly on the rights of women are not inferior to men. Talaq is an option, not a license or a weapon to harass women with.”
