Nikah halala is one of the most bizarre and revolting aspects of Islamic law. It is a temporary marriage that allows a woman to return to her previous husband after a divorce. If her husband says “I divorce you” to her three times, she can’t return to him unless and until she marries another man, consummates the marriage, and is in turn divorced by the new husband. This is based on the Qur’an. Allah’s regulations for divorce emphasize regarding women that “men have a degree over them” (Qur’an 2:228). This may be why men can divorce their wives simply by saying, “Talaq” — You are divorced, or I divorce you. Such an easy procedure leads to divorces in a fit of pique, followed by reconciliation — and the Qur’an anticipates this and attempts to head it off by stipulating that a husband who divorces his wife three times cannot reconcile with her until she marries another man and is in turn divorced by him: “And if he has divorced her [for the third time], then she is not lawful to him afterward until she marries a husband other than him” (Qur’an 2:230).
Polygamy is based on Qur’an 4:3: “And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of women, two or three or four. But if you fear that you will not be just, then one, or those your right hand possesses. That is more suitable that you may not incline.”
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board is calling on the Supreme Court of India to recognize that ironclad principle: wherever Islamic law and secular law conflict, it is secular law that must give way. In Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Islamic mores. In non-Muslim countries, one must conform one’s behavior to Islamic mores.
“Don’t Allow People from Other Faiths to Question Muslim Law: AIMPLB to SC on Nikah Halala Challenge,” by Utkarsh Anand, News18, January 27, 2020:
New Delhi: All India Muslim Personal Law Board has submitted in the Supreme Court that religious practices of one faith should not be allowed to be questioned by someone from a different faith.
The registered society comprising Ulemas (scholars) has added that even otherwise, nobody should be permitted to question issues of faith unless they threaten life and liberty of anyone.
About the Uniform Civil Code, the Board has said that Article 44 in the Constitution, which talked about having a common law for the entire country, was “only a directive principle of state policy and is not enforceable”.
The application moved in the top court has emphasised that the ‘Mohammedan Law is based on Holy Quran and Hadith’ and its validity can’t be tested on a challenge based on fundamental rights.
The plea has been filed by the Board to oppose a PIL that challenged the validity of practises of polygamy and nikah halala among Muslims.
While the petition by advocate and BJP member Ashwini Upadhyay has claimed such practices violate Muslim women’s right to live with dignity and their privacy, the Muslim Law Personal Law Board has now claimed these practices may not fall under the purview of the “law in force” and are hence beyond the purview of judicial review….