PERSONAL LAW
Sabeeha Bano on Muslim Women's Voices Expanding Gender Justice under Muslim Law
An opinion survey among Muslim women in a section of Delhi indicates that while the enactment of a Uniform Civil Code is a difficult proposition, the objectives sought to be promoted through the enactment can be achieved equally well by a process of reform of personal laws through the internal initiatives of different communities.
The data presented here was collected from a sample of 200 respondents drawn from the Muslim localities in and around the Jamia Millia Islamia in Delhi as part of a larger study designed to find out women's understanding of the Koranic and Muslim Personal Law provisions relating to divorce, marriage and inheritance.
Since one of the areas at the centre of the controversy over the enactment of Uniform Civil Code is that of reference marriage and divorce, the respondents were asked a series of questions about marriage and divorce. Of all the respondents, 86 (43 per cent) reported that their formal consent to the marriage was sought by their parents, and as many as 113 (57 per cent) said that no formal consent to their marriage was sought from them. Again, 198 (99 per cent) were married through a 'nikah' ceremony. The payment of mehr promised by their husbands at the time of marriage ranged as low as Rs. 100 and as high as Rs. 40,000. Interestingly, as many as 37 (19 per cent) respondents reported that they did not know what was the mehr fixed at the time of their marriage.
For all the respondents except one, their present marriage was their first marriage. If is often believed that the ease of divorce in the case of Muslims results in frequent casting away of the wife. If our data is to be relied upon, it would seem that divorce is not very common among Muslims. This is as true of men as much as women as our question with respect to the marriage of the respondents' husband shows that in the case of 187 (94 per cent) respondents their marriage to their present husband was also the first marriage for the husband. Only in eight (4 per cent) cases the present marriage of the husband was his second marriage and in one case the present marriage was a fourth marriage. Of those husbands whose present marriage is not their first marriage, only eight (4 per cent) had divorced their wife and three (2 per cent) had married a second time after having been widowed earlier.
Even though the overwhelming majority of the respondents have never been divorced and only eight (4 per cent) have married husbands who had been widowed divorced earlier, the large majority of them are of the view that the practice of triple divorce is iniquitous to women. As many as 164 (82 per cent) felt that the practice of triple divorce should be abolished completely, while 20 (10 per cent) thought otherwise and another 17 (per cent) did not show a firm opinion on this matter.
On the question of polygamy as many as 173 (88 percent) want the provision for polygamous marries to be abolished completely, 14 (7 per cent) think otherwise and 13 (7 per cent) are undecided. Accordingly, on an overall assessment, as many as 76 (38 per cent) respondents felt that Muslim personal law discriminates against women, 70 (35 per cent) thought otherwise and another 54 (27 per cent) were undecided.
If such a large proportion of women feel that the provisions of Muslim personal law relating to triple divorce and polygamy are iniquitous to women and should be abolished or that Muslim personal law- discriminates against women, the question naturally follows what they feel about how the reform of the law should be effected. Of all the respondents 76 (38 per cent) felt that Muslim personal law should remain unaltered which, in other words, means that in their opinion the personal law needs no reforms. The remaining respondents thought that changes or reforms in specific areas were called for. As many as 73 (37 per cent) felt that reform in respect of polygamy was called for, 62 (31 per cent) felt that reform in respect of custody of the child in the event of separation or divorce was called for, and 58 (29 per cent) said that the provisions regarding maintenance to a divorced or separated wife needed reform. Only one respondent also said that reform in respect to a woman's right in paternal property was required.
The broad consensus which seems to be emerging in Indian society with respect to the enactment of Uniform Civil Code is that such an enactment is a difficult proposition, but the objective sought to be promoted through the enactment of Uniform Civil Code can be achieved equally well by a process of reform of the different personal laws through internal initiative of the communities themselves... Discussion Data from the respondents shows that there is a clear understanding of the need for this kind of reform as well as a clear understanding of the areas where such reforms are called for. Our respondents' specific answers also go to show this broad consensus. The respondents were asked to indicate whether a Uniform Civil Code should be enacted, or Muslim Personal Law should be retained as it is, or it should be reformed. Only 29 (14 per cent) respondents said that Muslim Personal Law should be replaced with a gender-just Uniform Civil Code, and a roughly equal number 30 (15 per cent) felt that Muslim Personal Law should be retained as it is. Of the remaining respondents, 35 (17 per cent) felt that Muslim Personal Law should be retained with minor changes and another 57 (29 per cent) said that Muslim Personal Law needs drastic reforms, but that these changes should be brought about within an Islamic framework. There cannot be clearer indication for the leaders of the community and greater reason for them to initiate the process of reform than this testimony.
(Source: The Economic and Political Weekly, 25 November, 1995)
