Triple talaq bill does little to help Muslim women

The Triple Talaq bill does little for millions of Muslim women. This law is incomplete in many ways and much more needs to be done to improve the conditions of married as well as divorced Muslim women. 

It was Ishrat Jahan who moved the Supreme Court to ban instant talaq. Image- Twitter 

Finally, the Triple Talaq bill was passed on 29/07/2019 nearly a year after the Supreme Court struck down instant talaq. After the passage of this bill in Rajya Sabha, no Muslim man can divorce his Muslim wife after uttering talaq thrice instantaneously.

But does the Triple Talaq bill 2019 really help Muslim women? Not really. Here are the top 4 reasons why the Muslim Women Marriage Act is still incomplete.

Halala remains despite Triple Talaq bill 

If you are new to the concept of instant triple talaq, then you must understand what is halala.

Divorces are prevalent in every religion and Islam is no exception. However, this religion exacts a terrible price from its divorced women who want to reunite with their husbands. This price is called halala. 

Let's say there is a Muslim woman who has been divorced by her husband. The guy says 'talaq' thrice and throws out the woman from his house. Now, what can the woman do if she wants to remarry her husband?

Islamic law says that the woman must marry another person, consummate that marriage with him and wait until her new husband divorces again. Once free from her second marriage, this woman can remarry her previous husband. 

This second marriage is called Nikaah Halala and many Muslim women find it hateful and regressive. But they can't do anything about it because these divorced women are invariably poor and have no influence in Muslim society. 

In many cases, the first husband has forced his divorced wife to undergo halala with his father or brother! Imagine a father-in-law forcing himself on his new wife who was, till yesterday, his daughter-in-law. 

So, while the 2019 Triple Talaq bill criminalizes instant talaq, it doesn't do anything for women who have been divorced by delayed talaq. Those women still continue to be oppressed by Nikah Halala. 

Quran and Halala

Quran very much mandates halala. However, some Muslim feminists say halala was innovated to discourage Muslim men from divorcing their women quickly! That's some funny logic. 

So, can Parliament outlaw Halala?

Not really. Parliament can only make laws. The duty to interpret laws and customs lies with the Supreme Court. Unless the apex court decides to ban halala, nothing can't be done about it. Parliament can criminalize halala only if it has been given the green signal by the Supreme Court. 

Triple talaq bill came along only after the Supreme Court banned instant talaq, remember?

No power to divorce

Muslim women will continue to lead sad lives until they are ALSO GIVEN THE POWER TO DIVORCE THEIR HUSBANDS. 

Currently, according to the various Muslim personal laws, no Muslim woman can divorce her husband just as he can divorce her. She needs permission from her hubby to divorce her. Crazy, isn't it?

So, unless this power of divorce is granted to every Muslim woman, the Triple Talaq bill will continue to be a toothless tiger. 

Polygamy

It horrifies me no end to see Muslims being allowed to marry more than one woman. Sadly, this is permitted by the Constitution under the garb of religious freedom. 

But this sanction of polygamy violates the individual human rights of Muslim women. Why should these ladies be exploited by their men in the name of religious freedom? Conversely, why can't polygamy be allowed in Hindu, Christian and other communities as well? 

The real value of the recently passed Muslim Women Marriage bill will only be unlocked if polygamy is banned across India by the Supreme Court. It will have to fight tooth and nail with the Muslim clergy and religious leaders on the polygamy issue. 

Even if polygamy is allowed in the Quran, the Supreme Court will still have to banish this evil practice from India. The constitution is supreme, not the Quran in India. 

The last thing that this bill fails to address is the marriage of underage children in the Muslim community.

No time to play

Do you know that our Constitution permits child marriages among Muslims? 

Unlike Hindus and other communities, Muslims are allowed to marry off their girls when they are 15!

Pray, tell me, what is so special about Muslims that an exception needs to be made in their case? If the legal age of marriage for Hindus, Christians, Parsis is 18, why is such an exception being made for Muslims?

Let's leave this legality aside for some time and think about the Muslim child who is married so early. 

Does she get enough time to play and shape her career? Is her body ready to conceive at an early age? Does this girl have the required maturity to handle her marriage? These are questions that should trouble all of us. 

Many Muslim girls, particularly from poor backgrounds, are married off by their parents to wealthy Sheikhs and Emirs from the middle east countries. What happens to these unfortunate girls after they are divorced from their husbands? 

To sum up, the triple talaq bill does very little to advance the condition of the average Muslim woman. All it does is get some claps and brownie points for the Narendra Modi government.