Divorce and Muslim law
Our friend Usman Malik has submitted the following.
I thought this may be of interest to the Blog community.
The story outlines the sharp reaction from the Mullahs against the recommendations by the CII (Council of Islamic Ideology) regarding amending the divorce laws in Pakistan. The CII has apparently recommended that:
1 – If the wife demands divorce in writing then the divorce will become effective after 90 days regardless of whether the husband grants it or not.
2 – Any divorce must be registered with the state authorities in written form to have proper legal status…..similar to the registration of the Nikah.
The Mullahs have been up in arms and without citing any arguments from the Quran or Sunnah, have termed the proposals an attack on Islam etc etc. The PPP government predictably has distanced itself from the proposals and has promised to increase the strength of the CII board (fill in some vacant spots) and review the proposals. No points for guessing which way the “enhanced” CII board may go. I am wondering if any one can throw some light on the Islamic position regarding these proposals. On the face of it these seem reasonable, or at least the 2nd one does.
From Abdul Momin:
Unfortunately in the Muslim world if some well meaning people take one step forward, we can all rest assured that they will be forced to take two steps back.
The CII of Pakistan is said to consist of 20 members and at present has only 8 members on it. So when the complete “team” meets, I am sure they will withdraw these “Unlslamic” proposals.
The present members must have exercised the option of Ijtehad to arrive at their recommendations. But the only Ijtehad that the Pakistani Mullahs can live with is when people come up with new forms of mischief or new forms of violence-like suicide bombings in the name of Islam. These same Mullahs - whose brand of Islam chiefly consists of laws which punish other Muslims for minor infractions - are notoriously the ones making the loudest noises against any military action against the murderers of innocent people.
Previously these people sabotaged amendment of the blasphemy law as well as removal of the religion column from Pakistani passports.
I wonder what Benazir Bhutto would have thought of the present PPP government’s position had she been alive.
From Zahid Aziz:
In the 1950s a commission was appointed by the government of Pakistan under Chief Justice Rashid to examine the existing laws of marriage, divorce etc. It reported in 1956 with enlightened recommendations. The only member dissenting with their report was, guess who? The only Mullah member, Maulana Ehteshan-ul-Haq Thanvi! Pressure from the same sort of quarters led to the report being shelved.
Then in 1961 Ayub Khan promulgated the Family Laws Ordinance, which was apparently a somewhat watered down version of the Rashid commission recommendations. Its main aim was to discourage polygamy and regulate divorce. It also raised the minimum ages of marriage from 14 to 16 for girls and from 18 to 21 for men. The earlier ages (14 and 18) were brought in under British rule in 1929 by the Child Marriage Restraint Act.
When that earlier law of 1929 was proposed, all Mullas opposed setting any minimum age of marriage. But the Lahore Ahmadiyya Anjuman strongly supported the proposal (I have read this in The Light of those years).
It is said in our Jamaat regarding Ayub Khan’s ordinance that he must also have been influenced by our own elder, Mr Nasir Ahmad Faruqui.
In Zia-ul-Haq’s time he did all he could to annul the provisions of Ayub Khan’s reforms.
Ayub’s family law ordinance is reproduced in the book Women of Pakistan: Two steps forward, one step backward (Vanguard, 1987) in Appendix 1. I have summarised the above information from that book.
From Abdul Momin:
The Good News:
CII refuses review on recommendations
Islamabad: The Council for Islamic Ideology, sticking to its guns on its recommendations for proposed reforms in the Muslim Family Laws, said there is no need of a second review.
‘Recommendations were prepared and finalized after extensive discussions within the council in accordance with the concept, teachings and injunctions of Islam,’ said Director General Research CII Dr. Syed Nasir Zaidi.
There is no need to make a review on these recommendations, he said adding that minimum eight members of the council have already supported the recommendations for changes in family laws. ‘It is up to the parliament to legislate it or not, as far as CII is concerned it has finalized the recommendations,’ he said.
The BAD “News”
The recommendations have sparked a row as religious scholars and political parties are criticizing the Council for Islamic Ideology of ‘misinterpreting’ the Islamic Shariat laws.
The religious-political parties including Jamaat Islami, Jamiat Ulema Islam, Maddaris boards and various Ulema have already rejected CII recommendations.
They were of the view that the Council has no right to suggest reforms against the basic spirit of Shariat Laws. They demanded the termination of CII Chairman and expansion in its composition.
Source: Dawn dated 11-19-08
From Bashir:
I hope I never have to learn the divorce procedures in Islam. That would shatter me.
A very delicate subject I must say.
From Usman:
Pakistani Mullahs have a history of knee jerk reactions to gain political points whenever they can. Not one Mullah has challenged the CII recommendations to a debate in light of the Quran and Sunnah. A few years back the government moved the weekly holiday from Friday to Sunday. The Mullahs at once declared that Islam was under attack! Being a business professional I found this a highly beneficial move as now our working days coincided with the rest of the world. I ended up writing letters to the newspapers pointing out that the Quran actually seems to accept Friday as a working day and that it was also a fact that Friday attendance at Mosques had increased significantly as people appreciated a break from work, while previously they used to laze around at home. Thankfully the government stuck to its guns while the Mullah ranted and panted.
From T. Ijaz:
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad wrote:
“One of our readers has raised the objection as to why the Holy Quran has left the matter of divorce to the pleasure of the husband. What he seems to be saying is that men and women being equal, it is unfair to leave divorce solely in the hands of the husband. The answer is that men and women are not equal. Universal experience has shown that man is superior to woman in physical and mental powers. There are exceptions, but exceptions don’t make a rule. Justice demands that if a man and woman want to separate, the right to decide should lie with the husband” (Chashma-e-Marifat, RK vol 23, from page 286).
interesting. any thoughts?
From Zahid Aziz:
Three pages later Hazrat Mirza sahib writes:
By the way, the quote submitted by Dr Tahir Ijaz begins: “One of our readers …”. This is not a correct rendering in the context of the whole discussion. The original Urdu words mazmoon parhnay walay nain don’t mean someone who read an article written by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad but they refer to an Arya Hindu speaker who had read a paper at a meeting raising objections against Islam as such.