Theory and Practice of Muslim State in India c10.s8.37

c10.s8.37

29 The Shah Bano case is known to all. "Talat Parveen is an educated, fairly westernised medical practitioner living in Delhi. Attractive and successful at the age of 22, she is already a divorcee. The reason: her former husband pronounced the three deadly words which Muslim women have come to dread: Talaq, talaq, talaq; without weighing the spin-off, her husband had annulled the marriage without any ceremony. Unfortunately for the woman her cause did not have many backers. The Ulema sided with the husband interpreting the holy book in their own way. That left the woman no option but to sound the court. It was here that a young Delhi High Court lawyer M. Aytab Siddiqui came to her rescue, and after a short legal battle, he ensured that Parveen's maintenance, at least until the birth of her child, would be the responsibility of her husband. This is one of the cases that the Indian courts are tackling, and it remains at best the tip of the iceberg. The real problem is far below. In this particular case, the woman was aware enough and had some support from her immediate family. In a majority of cases, divorced women have nowhere to go." A fatwa issued by the Jamat-i-Ahl-i-Hadis which includes members from the Muslim Law Board and All India Milli Council, has challenged the traditional preserve of the mullah, and proclaimed that pronouncement of talaq thrice in a row would be considered only a single talaq.