CS: The W in Islam

Islam is stereotypically seen as a religion that does not give equal rights to women. What do Muslim women think of this?

Garima Srivastava Delhi

There are two major points of confrontation about the status of women in Islam: one is divorce and the other is polygamy. The issue of divorce, according to Islamic law, can be interpreted in two ways. The first is 'triple talaaq' wherein just a triple utterance of the word talaaq by a husband is sufficient ground for divorce. The second interpretation is that a provisional period of three months is given for reconciliation between each talaaq.

Many Indian Muslims are unaware of the latter interpretation and prefer the rigid triple talaaq, although it is banned in several Islamic countries, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Indonesia. In the recent past, there have been incidents when husbands have divorced their wives by e-mail, over the phone or even by text messages (SMS).

Although divorce by talaaq is not very common among educated middle-class Muslim families, the problem is acute among those from less affluent and uneducated backgrounds. Hafeez Begum, a domestic help working in Delhi, says, “I feel amendments are required in the matter of talaaq, because it is the women who suffer. It might not be a big deal for those who are educated and can earn enough to live a better life, but if women like us are divorced, how will we survive?”

Arsia Nasir, a teacher in Delhi's Hamdard Primary School, says, “The basic problem is illiteracy. One will not find such problems in the educated elite classes, partly because they are educated and also because of the social stigma attached to divorce.”            

Another matter of controversy in Islam is polygamy. Few, however, know that taking more than one wife is only permissible, not ordained by the Quran, as mentioned in the verse revealed after the battle of Uhud. In that battle, many men died and the need for the protection of widows and orphans arose, necessitating an institutionalised form of polygamy. Arsia Nasir clarifies how the concept of seven marriages in Islam is misunderstood: “It's not polygamy as people think. The concept was to give shelter to the women who were abandoned due to war or for any other reason, but it was misused.”