If a Muslim man can have four wives, why can’t a Muslim woman have four husbandsIJ
This was the rhetorical but loaded question, B Kemal Pasha, a Kerala High Court Judge posed on Sunday at a seminar organised by a Muslim women’s forum. Judge Pasha also said that to lead a proper life a man or woman needed just one partner.
According to the judge, Muslim Personal law discriminated against women on matters related to dowry, divorce and inheritance, and this contradicted the Koran’s position on these issues.
“It is discrimination and the religious leaders who have created such a situation cannot shy away from addressing it. They should introspect whether they are qualified for pronouncing judgments. The persons who receive the judgements should also think about that,” the judge said.
The Kerala judge was speaking at a seminar organized by Nisa and the Punarjani Charitable Trust here.
While the Koran actually granted women the right to extrajudicial divorce by way of Fasakh, Muslim personal law didn’t grant that right to women even as it allowed men the right to pronounce talaq, Judge Pasha added.
The Constitution guaranteed equality to both man and woman, Judge Pasha said, adding that all laws of the country come under the purview of Article 14 and Article 21 which guaranteed right to equality and right to life respectively.
Judge Pasha said several shortcomings of Muslim personal law stemmed from the fact that it was not properly codified.
I personally request the judge to keep adequate measures of his and his families’ self-protection, as some Muslim outfits encouraged by Mullahs might try to kill him after such comments.