Muslim Women's Initiative - Because Nobody Else Will Do It !

MUSLIM WOMEN’S INITIATIVE

BECAUSE NOBODY ELSE WILL DO IT !

Dr. Noorjehan Safia Niaz

History of Muslims in India is an amalgamation of assimilation, integration and separation of identity all at the same time. Today at the cross roads are Muslim women who are not only asserting her identity as a Muslim woman but also as an Indian citizen. She is leading not just herself but also the community. She is not only asking her rights from her community but also from the state. From within the state she is reposing her faith in the courts for resolving her concerns of discrimination. The recent Supreme Court observations of the legal issues of Muslim women are a welcome step forward in resolving the long standing discrimination faced by Muslim women.

The rise and growth of Muslim women’s movement in India as characterised by the formation and growth of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan is an indicative of the coming of age of Muslim women in India. Through BMMA Muslim women are leading the subaltern feminist movement which is again part of the larger Islamic feminist movement rising from other parts of the Muslim world. Muslim women today are redefining the contours of religious thought by including in it the discourses of gender equality and human rights. For her the Quran and the Constitution of India speak the same language of equality, justice, freedom, compassion and wisdom.

The first achievement of the BMMA has been their fearlessness in providing an alternative voice to the community, the voice of its women. This is the first time in the history of independent India that an organised Muslim women’s movement has emerged and has sustained itself since the last 8 years. It took Muslim women 70 years after independence to find its voice and to challenge the hegemony of patriarchal forces within the community.

The BMMA, as a Muslim women’s movement worked on a codified draft of the Muslim family law and released it in 2014. The draft was prepared by nationwide consultation with thousands of Muslim women, lawyers, academicians and scholars of law and religion. It was the first instance of law which was drafted after due consultation with the most affected section of the community, the Muslim women. The provisions of the draft law are such that they have broken fresh grounds and have opened the doors of reforms for the community as far as law reforms are concerned. Because of the incessant campaign of BMMA, the issue of legal discrimination has now reached the doors of the Supreme Court.

The law prepared by BMMA lays down the conditions relating to solemnization of a Muslim marriage which include payment of mehr and unambiguous consent to marriage by both the parties. The conditions also include the age of marriage to be 18 and 21 years for the girl and the boy respectively. The draft prohibits a man to marry another woman in the subsistence of his first marriage. In proposes polygamy to be made illegal. The draft also outlines the responsibilities of the qazi including ensuring the conditions mentioned above before solemnization of marriage. The minimum mehr as mentioned in the draft should not be less than the groom’s one full annual income. Registration of the nikaah is compulsory and it is the responsibility of the parties to ensure that their marriages are registered with the relevant state bodies. Irrespective of who raises the demand for divorce the method of divorce includes mandatory arbitration. The draft deems invalid any other method of divorce including the instant oral/unilateral divorce. The practice of halala and muta marriage has also been declared an offence. According to the draft it is the legal responsibility of the husband to provide the above even if the wife has an independent source of income. Both the mother and the father are considered natural guardians of the child. In the situation of widowhood the mother continues to be the natural guardian of the children.

Muslims in India are going through some trying times. With conservative forces of the Hindu and the Muslim community rearing their ugly head, nationally and internationally it is becoming difficult for the progressive voices within the community to address their concerns of justice, peace and development. But the Indian Muslims are also living in a nation state which is bound by the values of democracy, secularism, socialism and fraternity. It is these Constitutional values which need to be protected and promoted by the community so that they can enjoy the fruits of staying in a liberal and progressive society. This is precisely what Indian Muslim women are doing. They are taking full advantage of the constitutionally guaranteed political space by organizing themselves across the country. Whether it is demanding implementation of Sachar Committee report, or drafting a women-just and Quran compliant Muslim family law, forming Aurton ki Shariah Adalats, fighting for a secure social and political life – Muslim women have undertaken some very momentous and significant socio-political actions stating that democracy within is essential to demanding democracy from the state.

Muslim women have entered the religious domain hitherto held by men and have let the world know a completely humanistic and enabling version of Islam. Women are reading and translating the Quran to derive their own meanings and interpretations. With the emergence of Muslim women’s religious leadership, there appears hope that the rights enshrined in the Quran will be restored to her. Muslim women are not just receiving knowledge from the so-called scholarship of Muslim clergy but are also creating religious knowledge. Muslim women have challenged the patriarchal interpretations and translations of the Quran. These women internationally and movements like BMMA in India have inadvertently opened the doors of change by creating knowledge from their own perspectives and their own lived realities which are largely experiences of injustice and inequality.

As Muslim women go from strength to strength, there is hope for the Muslim community as well because voices of women are voices of justice, equality, fairness and humanity.  

First published by Loksatta