For
over 6 months now the subject of banning Islamic Laws of the Social system has
been discussed and debated across the Nation. Certain women groups such as the
BMMA (Bhartiya Muslim Mahina Aandolan) and others have petitioned the Indian
Supreme Court to ban ‘triple talaq’ as a means of instant divorce,
arguing that it is unconstitutional, discriminatory and contrary to Islamic
law. They have reasoned that women are not allowed to respond or object to the talaq,
and are often left vulnerable after being suddenly abandoned and shunned by
both family and the wider community whilst the men receive no repercussions. They
also claim that the triple talaq violates Quranic injunctions on
divorce, that it has no place theologically and should be banned legally.
With this new litigation, the Supreme court in India
has decided to test whether the Islamic laws on the Social System meet the
conditions put down by the Indian Constitution. It will assess whether these
Islamic laws are in line with the idea of Freedom of religion and whether they
ensure equality for both the sexes.
The Indian Courts and the Indian Government
have for long carried the viewpoint that,"absence of reforms in the
community in the last 65 years have left Muslim women “extremely vulnerable —
both socially as well as financially”, in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, the
Indian Govt recently said that polygamy and triple talaq, “cannot be
regarded as essential or integral part of the religion”.
Similarly the Indian Law ministry on the issue
of polygamy and triple talaq, said that the validity of these practices
required a “reconsideration” by the top court, “in light of the principle of
gender justice and overriding principle of non-discrimination, dignity and
equality” as well as “evolution of women”,
Muslim Organisations across the nation have
spoken strongly against any interference in the Islamic Personal laws by the
Government of India and the banning of Triple Talaq and other Islamic
laws.
Many Muslims have framed their defensive
argument based on the rights that the Indian constitution gives them. Some
Muslim Scholars whilst referring to the concepts of Freedom of religion and
Gender equality have said, “It is a right under our Constitution to practise
our own respective religion”.
Another well known Islamic scholar argued, “We
are uneasy with the way the Centre’s argument is framed, to make it a contest
between Islam and the Constitution, where Islam is made out to be out of line
with ideas of equality and gender justice. This is wrong… Islam is not
anti-women, Islam also allows Khula (where the woman is free to seek divorce).”
THE ISLAMIC WAY OF APPROACHING THIS ISSUE
1. Firstly it should be clear in our minds, that
Islam is a complete way of life unlike any other religion. It is not like
Hinduism, Jainism, Budhism, Christianity or any other religion which are mere
rituals of marriage , inheritance and worship.
2. Secondly, for Muslims the idea of who is Al-Haakim
(law maker) is a fundamental aspect of the Islamic Aqeedah, i.e. Al-Hakim means
‘The Legislator’, the one who is sovereign, who has the right to make rules and
laws, to decide the halal (permitted) and haram (prohibited) for
mankind.
ADDRESSING REAL ISSUES INSTEAD OF ATTACKING
ISLAM
The West offers individual freedom as the
progressive basis of life. By individual freedom what’s meant is that an
individual is completely free in how he or she lives his or her life. Sex is
promoted everywhere from billboards, movies, music, adverts – everywhere. They
have taken something which should be for the bedroom, for the private life and
promoted it in the whole society.
The West views
women as sex objects. They value women by their looks – making women obsessed
about looking the right way and how men perceive them. This problem is not
limited to the west, rather has been exported wholesale to countries like India
who are trying to catch up with the liberal west.
Let us look at where the Indian society is
heading. In 2015, India ranked third among the list of countries that watched
pornography the most. It was a one rank jump as compared to 2014, where India
was at number four. According to a survey by a Mysore based NGO, Rescue led by
Abhishek Clifford, 66 per cent boys in undergraduate courses in India start
watching porn at the age of 9 with an average of 7 hours a week. The survey
states as many as 30% of boys watch violent porn, including on an average 19
rapes per week. A whopping 1.7 lakh new students start watching rapes each year
and by the time they enter the degree course, they would have seen 4,900 rapes.
84% said watching porn is progressive and addictive. About 83% of students
surveyed said porn leads to sexual activity and 74% said it motivates them to
go to prostitutes.
Several
surveys and independent researches indicate that there has been a steep rise in
the graph of couples seeking divorce. A decade ago one out of every thousand
Indians were seeking divorce. However, the figure has gone up thirteen times in
2015, where every 13 out of a thousand married couples wanted separation.
India’s
business Capital, Mumbai – witnessed 11,667 cases of divorce that were filed in
2014 as compared to only 5245 cases in 2010. Lucknow for instance registered
2000 couples filing for divorce in 2014 – as compared to a meagre 300 in 2009.
The trend is fairly similar in all the major cities all over India. The demand
for divorce is so high that in 2013, 3 more family courts were opened in
Bengaluru alone, to cater to the unprecedented rush of couples seeking
separation.
These are the
fruits of freedom and these should not be considered surprising but in fact are
an inevitable occurrence since a solution proposed by man’s limited mind will
never be able to address the intricacies of human life and its requirements.
- That has encouraged sexualisation of woman in
films and advertising.
- That has encouraged free mixing as we see on
New Year’s eve and on Valentines day.
- That it has accepted pornography and
pornographic actors/actresses as part of their society.
- The current system, media and entertainment
industry instils concepts of freedom and the unrestricted satisfaction of needs
and instincts.
THE ISLAMIC VIEW TOWARDS
WOMAN
Islam does not believe in the
ideas of freedom and liberation of women and does not discuss the relation
between men and women in terms of gender equality, for it does not leave the
human being to decide how he or she should live her life according to her own
desires or allow mankind to legislate their own laws for the society and create
their own system from the ignorance, bias, greed, and limited understanding
that they have of each other’s needs. The system comes completely from the
Creator, covering all of life’s affairs: ruling, economic, judicial, education
and the social system, dealing with the relationship and duties of men and
women within the society. As a verse in the Noble Qur’an in Surah Al-Ahzab
states,
“It is not fitting for a
believer, man or woman, when a matter has been decided by Allah and His
Messenger, to have any option about their decision. If anyone disobeys Allah
and His Messenger, he is indeed on a clearly wrong path”. [TMQ
Ahzab:36]
Within Islam, the Muslim
woman has contentment in her life, because the only expectations she has to
live up to are those of the Creator and not the continually changing or
unrealistic expectations of her husband, family, community or society. In
Islam, where the man and the woman share similar qualities in their nature, the
obligation prescribed to both is the same such as the salaat (prayer) sawm
(fasting), and Hajj (pilgrimage). However, where the nature differs then
different duties have been prescribed.
In Islam, the duty prescribed
to the man is not viewed as better than the role prescribed to the woman. Rather,
the duties prescribed to the man are seen as responsibilities that need to be
fulfilled and for which the man will be held accountable to Allah (swt). Likewise,
the woman will also be held accountable as to how well she fulfilled her
responsibilities. Both duties complement one another and are crucial for the
family and society to function properly and with tranquillity.
Hence, equality between men
and women is not an issue for discussion, nor is it an issue that forms a
subject in the social system of Islam. The woman being equal to the man, or,
the man being equal to the woman is not a significant matter which has
influence over the societal life nor is it a problem which is likely to occur
in the Islamic life. It is but a phrase that is only found in the West. Islam
has nothing to do with these terms because it has established its own social
system on a firm basis that ensures communal and societal cohesion.
With regards to the honour,
respect, and security that a woman deserves, Islam establishes this in two
ways. Firstly, Islam rejects liberal freedoms and rather promotes Taqwa
(God-consciousness) within society that nurtures a mentality of accountability
in the manner by which men view and treat women. It prohibits the sexualisation
of society as well as all forms of objectification and exploitation of women’s
bodies, such that the relationship between the sexes is never cheapened or the
woman devalued. It celebrates a comprehensive social system that regulates the
relationship between men and women, and includes a modest dress code, the
segregation of the genders, and prohibition of extramarital relationships – all
of which directs the fulfilment of the sexual desires to marriage alone,
protecting women and society.
The second manner by which
Islam protects the honour of the woman is by the presence of an Islamic
authority or a Khilafah. The Khilafah is the ruling system of Islam that
applies all of the commands of Islam that includes the prayer, the fasting, the
zakat (obligatory charity), the economic laws, the social system and the
punishment system of Islam.
It is this Khilafah which
existed for over 1300 years since it was established in Madina by our beloved
Messenger Muhammad (saw). It has been absent in our lands for almost 90 years.
And due to this absence of
comprehensive application of Islam, some Muslim’s have made the Eastern Culture
and sometimes the Western culture as a basis in their lives and this is the
reason behind increasing injustice against Muslim women. So it should be clear
in our minds that the real reason for the increasing problems among Muslims is
not the Islamic rules rather the non-application of Islamic rules in a
comprehensive manner.
HOW SHOULD WE RESPOND
1. Muslims
in India should raise their voices against the interference in the Islamic
laws. This is something that many Muslims are already doing, however we should
expose the real problems in the Indian society that have been created as a
result of the Western way of life which the Indian government has embraced and
seeks to implement over Muslims as well.\
2. Muslims
should expose the increasing problems in the Indian societies due to the
perpetuating ideas of freedom and liberty.
3. Muslims
should be decisive in their stance that the Islamic law is ordained by the
creator of All mankind, he is the legislator, Allah (swt) and no man or
man-made court is qualified to judge the laws made by the creator of man.
4. Muslims
should realise that the real solution to all of the problems in modern day
societies is through the comprehensive implementation of the Islamic system.
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