Muslim law board chief Maulana Rabey Nadvi

Lucknow, July 3: The clamour to include in the nikaahnama (marriage contract) the wife’s right to use triple talaq to divorce her husband is expected to take centrestage when the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board meets in Kanpur tomorrow.

The move to include the provision was scuttled at the board’s Bangalore session in 2000. But, according to women activists within the community, the demand to incorporate the provision in the nikaahnama has gained ground following increasing instances of abuse of the triple talaq system by men.

Begum Naseem Iqtidar Ali Khan, the lone woman in the 41-strong executive committee of the law board, says: “Very few people are aware that the shariat allows women to divorce their husbands provided it is mentioned in the nikaahnama with the husband’s permission.”

At present, Muslim women can end their marriage under a system known as khula. But they are deprived of alimony and are often reduced to penury if their parents are not supportive. “Although both khula and talaq put an end to marriages, a fundamental difference between the two is that the husband has to hand over the mehar (financial compensation promised to the wife in the marriage contract) if he gives her talaq. But under khula, the wife has to forgo that amount,” says Khan.

At the Bangalore session, a section of women members of the board had opposed the ratification of a new nikaahnama at the last moment, giving the men a legitimate ground to quash the move. “Or else, it would have been approved by the board. It had crossed the initial hurdles,” Khan rues.

The 200-member board has only 25 women members, while the executive committee has 41 members.

Khan, a PhD in Urdu and a social worker, however, sees better days ahead for Muslim women. “Few families are incorporating the clause in the nikaahnama these days. But only a handful knows of the provision. The common people at the grassroots are not aware of it,” she says.

Sources say the board at tomorrow’s meeting, which has an 11-point agenda, will discuss a new nikaahnama. They say a section of women members are planning to table a system, prevalent in Pakistan, which has acknowledged the right of women to use triple talaq.

However, given the composition of the law board and the differences of opinion among the various religious schools, clinching an issue like divorce will not be easy.

Though the conservative Muslim society is seeking reforms from within, it prefers to go about it at its own pace.