New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) Thursday called on Law Commission Chairman Justice Balbir Singh Chauhan and handed to him signatures of over 04 crore 81 lakh people who the board claimed are satisfied with existing practice of Triple Talaq, Nikah halala, polygamy and other Sharia laws.
The10-member delegation of the Muslim personal law board which was led by its General Secretary Syed Mohammad Wali Rahmani also briefed the Law Commission Chairman about its opposition to the implementation of Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
The total of 48,347,596 signatures which were received from all over the country included 27,356,934 signatures of women. The board while handing over the scanned copies of the signatures in computer storage disk also sought the permission of the Law Commission to send in two trucks the original documents to its headquarters.
In the memorandum submitted to the Law Commission the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) also made it clear that the Muslims did not want any kind of change in the Shariah Laws like Nikaah, Halala, Talaq etc. and they wanted to stick to the Sharia laws at any cost.
“The Constitution of India gives Freedom of Religion so we want the Government not to interfere in any Sharia law or religious matter” the board said.
After meeting the Muslim panel members, Chauhan told them that the commission was still examining the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and its feasibility in the Indian society.
The Muslim panel's meeting with the Law Commission linking the issue of triple talaq with Uniform Civil Code (UCC) came at the time when the Supreme Court has set May 11 as the date to start hearing on the issue which has made life tougher for many women.
Differences over practice of triple talaq exist in the Islamic Sharia since the tenure of second Caliph Omar (RA). Muslim scholars and jurists argue that concurrent talaq or triple talaq in one go has never been approved by Prphet Mohammad (peace be upon him), during the tenure of first Caliph Abu Bakr (RA) and the first two years of Caliph Omar's caliphate.
Caliph Omar later approved it as punishment, scholars argue, but later on the practice was annulled by Muslim jurists. It is on this basis, the practice of concurrent talaq has been termed invalid in most of the Muslim countries. (Read more about Triple Talaq by clicking here.)
Muslims in India, majority of them followers of Hanafi school of thought, are adamant on the invalid concurrent talaq and are fighting a case with women activists in the Supreme Court.
Interestingly, some renowned Hanafi scholars have also ruled against concurrent or triple talaq. According to the sources in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), the members fear that agreeing to any change on triple talaq would open floodgate of interference in other Sharia matters.
It is also learnt that there is a strong dissent among the members of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMLB) and especially some women members are upset over board's handling of the situation.