The Muslim Women’s (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 criminalizing triple talaq among Muslims has received the President’s nod after being passed by both Houses of Parliament. Despite the Supreme Court’s verdict in the Shayara Bano case, the archaic and regressive practice of triple talaq was continuing, therefore this law became necessary.
However, there are still some practices which are going on for such a long period and has been overlooked by this legislation & needs to be abolished:-
- Polygamy
- Oral Talaq - Talaq al Ahsan
- Muta
- Nikah Halala
1.) Polygamy:- Polygamy is still legally permitted to Muslim men. Muslim law permits a Muslim male to marry up to four wives. So even if triple talaq is abolished, a Muslim husband can marry a second wife without divorcing the first one.
2.) Oral Talaq:- Oral talaq among Muslims are basically of two kinds:
- Triple talaq or talaq ul biddat:-
Talaq at one sitting or even by saying talaq thrice by telephone, in a letter, email or WhatsApp & this type of talaq is abolished now after banning Triple Talaq or talaq ul biddat. - Talaq al Ahsan:-
In this the word ‘talaq’ is said once, then a second time after a month, and a third time after another month. On saying it the third time, the divorce is complete. This too can be said by phone, letters, emails or WhatsApp. Talaq al Ahsan is still legal, and so if a husband wants to get rid of his wife, he can resort to talaq al Ahsan.
Unlike a divorce among Hindus or Christians, where a ground for divorce such as adultery, cruelty, desertion, etc. has to be alleged and proved in a court of law, there is no such requirement for a talaq al Ahsan.
So, a Muslim husband can get such a divorce without going to court for any reason whatsoever. In fact, he may not specify any ground at all.
3.) Muta or temporary marriage:- Muta means pleasure is permitted among Shia Muslims. This is also still legally permissible and needs to be banned.
4.) Nikah Halala:- Nikah Halala Urdu is a practice in which a woman, after being divorced by triple talaq, marries another man, consummates(make (a marriage or relationship) complete by having sexual intercourse) the marriage, and gets divorced again order to be able to remarry her former husband.
Conclusion:-
The need of an hour is a Uniform Civil Code which should be dealing with two main subjects i.e divorce & inheritance. Regarding divorce, the grounds for divorce can be as mentioned in Chapter 6 of the Special Marriage Act which deals with civil marriages. Regarding inheritance, sons and daughters must get equal shares.
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