Triple talaq to stay; don't care about Pakistan: Muslim law board

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Thursday said there was no scope of change in the triple talaq system and rejected the suggestion by some community outfits for building a consensus on making a three-month period mandatory before finalisation of divorce.

Though as per Quran and Hadith, "triple talaq" is a crime, but once said the process would be considered complete and cannot be changed, AIMPLB Spokesman Maulana Abdul Raheem Qureshi told news agency Press Trust of India.

He said through news reports he has come to know that the All India Sunni Ulema Council had written a letter to the Board along with Deobandi and Barelvi sects that if there was any scope in Islamic law then "talaq" said by a person thrice in one go, should be considered as said only once.

"Though the AIMBLP has not received any such letter as yet, but we do not agree with the suggestion. We have nothing to do with what happens in other Islamic countries. What is happening in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Sudan and other countries, we do not look into it. What we follow is what Quran Sharif, Hadith and Sunnat have said," he added.

The spokesman said though saying talaq thrice in one go was not considered good in Islam, the process is considered to be complete.

"There is no scope of change in the system," he said.

Qureshi said last week the AIMPLB had sent a questionnaire to Ulemas across the country in which it was asked whether any penalty could be imposed on a person giving triple talaq or not.

"There is an old fatwa which states that triple talaq in one go is a crime, but the process will be considered to be complete. Earlier, such husbands were lashed, but now it cannot be done. The Ulemas were asked what can be done in the present situation. We will invite them and discuss the issue at length," he said.

Maulana Shahabuddin, general secretary of Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa -- a religious and social unit of centre of the Barelvi sect, said the demand to consider triple talaq in one go ineligible had been raised in the past as well.

"But the religious leaders of Hanafi, Shaafai, Maliki and Hambli sects decided that once uttered thrice, talaq will be considered complete," he said.

Maulana Yasoob Abbas, spokesman of the All India Shia Personal Law Board, said there were many complexities involved in the issue.

"A girl leaves her parents house for once and all after marriage and lives with her husband all through her life. In between if husband says talaq thrice in a fit of anger, her life is torn into pieces," he observed.

He said that at this juncture Ulemas should sit together and deliberate on the issue of triple talaq.

Maintaining that the practice of triple talaq was causing immense problems in Muslim society, a body of clerics had written to the AIMPLB and Islamic scholars to build consensus on making a three-month period mandatory before finalisation of divorce.

In letters to AIMPLB and clerics of Deoband and Barelvi sects, the Sunni Ulema Council claimed that in seven Islamic countries, including Pakistan, Sudan and Jordan, the mandatory condition of three months is in place and the community in India too should consider similar practice.

It will lead to fewer divorces as couples will get time for reconciliation. If the husband has given triple talaq in a fit of rage or when he was in an inebriated condition, he can make amends which is not possible under the present practice of giving talaq in one go, said Haji Mohammed Salees, general secretary of the council.