Kalbe Sadiq

March 14: The fragile unity between the Shia and Sunni sects seems to be coming under strain with All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice-president Kalbe Sadiq attending a meeting of the breakaway Shia law board in Lucknow yesterday.

Sadiq, a noted Shia scholar, told the meeting that the AIMPLB was neglecting its Shia members, raising speculation whether he planned to leave the body.

Some AIMPLB members today said they were upset at the charge and surprised by Sadiq’s attendance of the Shia board meeting, but indicated they would not push for action against him.

They wondered why Sadiq had not raised these issues at the meetings of the AIMPLB, which claims to represent all Muslim sects in India and protect the supremacy of Sharia law in civil matters like marriage, divorce and inheritance.

The All India Shia Personal Law Board was set up in January 2005 as the sect’s leaders felt the AIMPLB was neglecting the views of Shias, who make up about one per cent of Indian Muslims.

Privately, many AIMPLB officials feel that if Sadiq leaves the apex body, it would signal a parting of ties between the two sects whose relations have had a chequered history ranging from sectarian violence and mutual distrust to ugly jokes.

For instance, sectarian violence during Muharram was an annual feature of Lucknow till Sadiq and his elder brother, the late Maulana Kalbe Abid, teamed up with respected Sunni scholar Maulana Ali Mian to put an end to it.

The Sadiq-Abid brothers and Ali Mian — whose nephew Maulana Rabey Nadvi now heads the AIMPLB — were often pushed into a corner by fringe elements from both sects but they never gave up.

While Sadiq sounded tentative about his future in the AIMPLB, some Sunni scholars felt that lack of social reforms from within and political differences may be prompting him to chalk out a separate course.

Of late, Sadiq has been restless. Apart from seeking more pronounced formulations against al Qaida and the Taliban, he has been pitching for a ban on the triple talaq, for Muslims to unilaterally give up their claim on the Babri land, and for acceptance of family planning methods including vasectomy.

On the face of it, the Sunni side led by Maulana Nadvi does not disagree with Sadiq on any of these issues except for vasectomy, but the pace of reforms has been a bone of contention.

The low-key Nadvi believes that society must come forward to oppose social evils like the triple talaq rather than the AIMPLB putting an “impractical” ban on it. Similarly, given the emotions surrounding the Babri issue, he feels it would be a better idea to accept a Supreme Court verdict.

Nadvi has been ideologically opposed to al Qaida and the Taliban but feels there’s little merit in issuing fatwas. He believes that these outfits are guided more by geopolitical considerations than matters of theology or faith.

In his hour-long address yesterday, Sadiq said: “The voice of the Shia community is not heard in the AIMPLB. There are 14 Shia members in the AIMPLB but except for a few, the majority never turn up at its meetings. They (non-Shia members) neglect us.”

“We were thrilled to have him.... He volunteered to address us,” Shia board president Mirza Mohammad Atahar said.

Sources said it was not “just a guest appearance”, emphasising that Sadiq had long helped the Shia board draft its resolutions. Among these have been a demand for seat reservation in Parliament for Shias, asylum to Pakistani and Afghan Shias who are becoming victims of terrorism, and a ban on extravagant marriages.

Later, asked by reporters if he might quit the AIMPLB, Sadiq said “Islam allows four marriages”, implying his association with the Shia board was not only legitimate but as profound as marriage.

Asked for reactions, senior AIMPLB member Zaffaryab Jilani said: “I still ask myself not to be provoked by this... but his allegations are not factually correct.”

Jilani and fellow board member Maulana Khalid Rasheed Firangimahali alleged that while the AIMPLB limited itself to matters of personal law, the Shia board also dabbled in politics.

Apart from the Shia board, the year 2005 also witnessed the birth of a law board for the Barelvi sect and one for Muslim women.