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November 9, 2005
India: Divorce Fatwa Creates Political, Religious Conflict in Madhya Pradesh
Mufti Mohammed Rafiq Kasmi of a local Deobandi madrassa, or Darul uloom, has created quite a stir within his community, according to IndiaExpress. The Mufti has issued a fatwa which states that a non-Muslim judge cannot issue any rulings about Muslim divorce.
His declaration that his opinions on issues of divorce come above those of a magistrate have brought local members of the extreme Hindu political party, the VHP (Vishva Hindu Parishad) threatening to take to the streets unless the Mufti is arrested.
The events have been happening in the district of Khargone, in Madyha Pradesh, in central India. It all began when one Anwar Khan, a Khargone resident went to the mufti to complain about the rulings made by a civil judge, Nirmala Chavda. Anwar Khan's wife Arzmand had had enough of him, and had applied for a divorce. The judge had granted the wife a divorce.
The marriage had not been happy for the woman. Though they had tied the knot in 1996, Arzmand had decided after only 15 days of wedded status that she was fed up, left home and refused to live with Anwar.
Arzmand's family were not happy with her choice of husband, especially after they had to pay him a dowry for allowing her to be married. Dowry is illegal now. They went to the police, told them about the dowry and also accused Mr Khan of cheating by lying about his job. He is a casual labourer for the Public Works Department. As a result, Khan had been arrested for the dowry offence, along with his own mother and sister. This case is still waiting to be heard in court.
In 2004 Khan had gone to the court of additional district sessions, to challenge the divorce ruling. It was then that he discovered that Arzmand had found a better man, and had remarried.
Khan was mortified and applied to the Mufti to seek redress. He had already consulted the mufti about his rights of marriage before his application to the sessions court. According to Khan, the woman was still married to him, for he had not granted her talaq, (Muslim divorce). So Mufti Kasmi declared a fatwa. According to this fatwa, Khan's ex-wife was still Khan's proper wife, even though she was under Indian law comfortably married with a man.
Presumably Arzmand's new husband did not request money in the form of dowry, and was not so hideous to live with. She appears to have stayed with her new legal husband for a lot longer than 15 days.
A copy of the Mufti's fatwa was issued before Judge B. S. Ohariya on Monday, which stated that shariat law does not recognize the verdict given by a non-Muslim magistrate, and that the woman cannot marry until her husband gives her talaq.
Under Muslim "jurisprudence" a woman does not have a right to seek a divorce. Only men make such decisions in the sexist world of Islam.
This ridiculous attempt to control a woman who has not shared the marriage bed for nine years has been seized upon by the VHP, and others in the local community. The chief of the local Badwani (district) Muslim Jamat, one Tasawwar Mirza, has said that Muslims will boycott Mufti Mohammed Rafiq Kasmi until he revokes the fatwa.
The international general secretary general of Vishva Hindu Parishad, Pravin Togadia, has called for the immediate arrest of the Mufti and for him to be prosecuted for insulting the Indian Constitution and the judiciary. "The fatwa clearly means that judgements given by non-muslims are not binding on the community," Togadia said.
Meanwhile the ex-Mrs Khan has filed a petition of contempt of court against her former hubby in the court of the non-Muslim magistrate, Nirmala Chavda, who originally granted her the divorce.
And Mr Khan, who obviously is unable to satisfy a wife? He has said to India Express: "The fatwa clearly states that only a man can give talaq. I am not ready for talaq because I want her back."
No-one seems to have thought for one moment what being married to a loser must be like, especially when the "romance" ended nine years previously.
Something tells me that for the possessive and wretched Mr Khan, and also for the arrogant Mufti, this is going to end up in tears before bedtime.
Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at November 9, 2005 7:13 PM
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