ETHOS OF ISLAM

‘RECTIFIES A WRONG’ Call it a long overdue step in accordance with progressive ethos of Islam; say it is in sync with changing times

Welcoming the SC verdict, many Muslims from the region said it was a long overdue step in accordance with the progressive ethos of Islam. ››

There is no concept of triple talaq in Islam. Some illiterate people had misinterpreted the religion and started this practice, giving it a bad name. MAQBOOL AHMAD, a writer from Qadian It was being used to dump hapless women. There were women who were divorced over the phone. They were left to fend for themselves. KISHWAR AHMED SHIRALI, retired psychologist

CHANDIGARH: Muslim intelligentsia from the region have welcomed the Supreme Court judgement declaring instant triple talaq unconstitutional as a long overdue step in accordance with the progressive ethos of Islam.

Welcoming the ruling, Maqbool Ahmad, a writer from Qadian in Punjab’s Gurdaspur, said the apex court had rectified a wrong taking place in the name of Islam. “There is no concept of triple talaq in Islam. Some illiterate people had misinterpreted Islamic tenets and started this practice, which only gave a bad name to our religion. I am glad that it has finally been debunked.”

Kishwar Ahmed Shirali, a retired psychologist, called the verdict as long overdue. “It was being used to dump hapless women. There were women who were divorced over the phone. They were left to fend for themselves and their children,” said Shirali, adding that the court should also order compensation for the aggrieved complainant who fought the case for 11 years.

Shams Tabrezi, editor at the Urdu Academy, Haryana, was also all praise for the ruling saying it was in sync with the changing times .“The decrees that were practised in an era when there were long-drawn wars, women were not educated or allowed to step out can’t be practised in today’ s world. We have to change with the changing times,” said Tabrezi. “Such archaic tenets have no place in an educated society that practises gender equality ,” he said, pointing out that more than half of the Muslim countries had already done away with the instant talaq system.

Striking an ambivalent note, Prof Rubina Shabnam, head of department, Nawab Sher Mohammed Khan Institute of Advanced Studies in Urdu, Persian and Arabic, Malerkot la, said she hadn’t yet gone through the verdict. “All I can say is that if it is in accordance with the tenets of Sharia and Quran, I will support it.”

Prof Shabnam asserted that Quran’s teachings areas relevant today as they were centuries ago. “There is no orthodoxy in Quran, it’s just that some people mis interpret it ,” Sh ab nam added.

Dr Rehana Parveen, head of Urdu department at Pan jab Uni- versity, said the ruling is justified inasmuch as it re in sin the people who had started making a mockery of triple talaq to dump their wives. “Yeh koi khel nahin hai,” she asserted.

Isha Naaz, a well-known young Urdu poet of the region, was more strident in her support of the verdict .“A woman is not an object that you can bring into your house when you desire and throw out when you are tired of it,” said Naaz. Women, she said, should get their rights. “When a girl’s assent is sought during marriage, why should it not be sought during divorce?” she questioned, adding that all women should be governed by the same divorce laws regardless of their religion.

She signed off with an Urdu couplet: Ghar ki zeenat hi fakat ham ko samajh mat lena, Ham hain jang mein bhi talwar chalane wale (Don’t dismiss us an object of decoration, we can wield a sword in a battle as well).