Shariat courts have no place in secular nation
In response to the regressive and discriminatory verdicts often passed by male-dominated Shariat courts, a Muslim women's organisation has begun establishing women's-only Islamic courts across the country. While this is a scathing indictment of Shariat courts coming from within the Muslim community, it should not mean that an-all women’s religious court is the solution in a secular country such as ours. It is true that the Muslim Personal law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, allows Islamic code to apply in personal matters and the constitutional guarantee of freedom to every religious denomination to manage its own affairs gives Muslims the right to establish Shariat courts.
But as many legal experts have said, these courts often function as a parallel judiciary — a claim not convincingly contested by religious scholars who argue that these institutions merely complement the secular justice machinery. While the legality of Shariat courts in India may be debatable, what is without a doubt is that such courts have routinely ruled against women's interests and blatantly violated their rights. Their controversial role comes under the scanner every time, for instance, a Muslim man casually divorces his wife by merely uttering the word ‘talaaq' three times in a row — sometimes, the words are not even said in person but conveyed over Skype, sent via SMS or shared on Facebook — and a Shariat court endorses it. Consequently, overnight, the woman is left to fend for herself without any maintenance to which she is otherwise legally entitled. And cavalier oral divorces are just one example wherein Muslim women face rampant discrimination; the situation is no better in cases of dowry-related harassment, domestic abuse and child custody.
It is against this backdrop that the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan has set up ‘Auraton ki Shariat Adalats' (Shariats courts for women) in Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Dindigul in Tamil Nadu, while more such centres will be established in West Bengal, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka and Jharkhand in the next couple of months. The BMMA, which describes itself as a secular organisation that believes in the values of equality and justice as enshrined in the Constitution, wants us to believe that it has its heart in the right place. Through these Shariat courts which will be led by female Muslim scholars who will rule according to their interpretation of the Quran, the BMMA wishes to give marginalised Muslim women a voice in what has traditionally been a man's domain.
But noble intentions notwithstanding, the fact is that one cannot entirely welcome Shariat courts. These quasi-legal religious institutions militate against the very spirit of a secular nation. India already has an established legal system and there is no reason why aggrieved Muslim women cannot seek justice in a regular court of law. In fact, organisations such as the BMMA would do much better to encourage Muslim women to take this path instead. Interestingly, the BMMA's Shariat courts are supposedly also guided by secular laws such as the Anti-Dowry Act and the Prevention of Domestic Violence Act. In that case, why not have our (secular) courts handle grievances that the all-women Shariat courts are supposed toIJ