Divergent Opinions and the Formation of the Board

What were the historical trajectories that prompted her to start a separate board when AIMPLB was already functional and looking into the matters of personal laws? Amber’s activism started in the late 90s, not directly related to reforma­tion of personal laws, but her dedication towards the social arena made her think about the plight of Muslim women and their status in the personal laws.

The mosque — as a place of worship and religious symbol for Muslims, its desecration should have ideally started a mobilized movement against the demol- ishers. As nothing of that sort happened, she had to ask for help from clerics in and around Lucknow against the contestation over the religious site. Awaiting succour not only from local clerics but also from the ulama of madrasa (Islamic seminary) like Nadwatul Ulama, but receiving none, she ultimately took the command.⁹ Because of this attitude from ulama she felt an aversion against the male clergy in India. This experience was motivational, learning and the first stride towards the formation of the women’s board.

Against this attitude of ulama and the government, she and some of the other Muslim women protestors asked help from some non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Nowhere in the primary sources of Islam like Quran is it written women cannot pray in mosques. In the Prophetic times, women used to pray in mosques, why has tradition changed over centuries? Evoking Bibi Hafsa one of the wives of the Prophet who used to lead women prayers in public she acknowledges the role of clergy in relegating women to the private sphere and disallowing them to pray in public. It is important that women should be taught the actual teachings of Islam. In pre-historic time both genders used to work and pray together.

Khaled Abou Al Fadel states many false hadith (narratives of the Prophet) in his book Speaking in the Name of God to illustrate how these weak hadith were incorporated in the Islamic juristic literature and the legal response; i.e. fatwa (legal advice) which eventually deteriorated the moral status of women in Islam after the end of the Prophetic era. In his opinion, the exclusion of women from the public spaces after the Prophetic era was because of the concept offitnah (seductive acts).

Fitnah in Islamic discourses is often associated with turbulence, disorder, enticement and opening of the doors of evil. The Quran does use the word fitnah but not to refer to sexual arousal, or seduction. The Quran uses the word to refer to non-sexual temptations such as money and to severe trials and tribulations.

Leading a mixed congregation prayer by any imam (mosque head) was difficult to materialize because of this concept offitnah, but somehow her efforts were facili­tated by some of the clergy of Nadwa. She herself mentions the reluctance of any imam in the beginning to lead the prayers that included women attendees, but not only the attendees have increased but also the imam from Nadwatul Ulama grad­ually got accustomed to lead mixed prayers. Lately, Tablighi Jamaats^[11] have also started visiting the mosque, making it more pluralistic and heterogeneous space for all sects of Muslims for prayers. Amber is not shy of claiming her own author­ity to interpret the Quran based on her reading and understanding of it, which does not promote gender segregation in performing congregational prayers.

The third and major reason for starting a distinct board for women was rejec­tion of her candidature for membership in AIMPLB. Initially, she desired to join AIMPLB — a board dominated by male clergy — but she was disallowed to do so. Her background of being a Hajj Committee member and a social activist did not act as a pushing factor for her eligibility in the AIMPLB. Her application was rejected and after her enquiry on non-acceptance, she was informed that her open criticism of the patriarchal clergy and their interpretation of the Islamic sources for their own benefits worked against her among the contending candi­datures. She mentions that members feared her activities and prominence will hamper the working of ulama and madrasa. In her opinion this was the possible reason for her non-inclusion in the list of the membership.

With this background she started her own women’s board with the aim of the representation of women in the Islamic discourse whose concerns are not dealt with properly by the male clergy.

I have been influenced by some of the historical figures of Islam like Ummi Umarah^[13] who was an activist during the times of the Prophet. Getting influenced by her I have devoted myself to the righteous path. I am also influenced by the progressive organizations like Jamaat-i-Islami. Its founder Abu Ala Madudi has had a great impact on me. I have read his tafsir (exegesis) on Quran and every time I read it, it teaches me something to move forward to.^[14] collective). Thus the humanist desire for autonomy and self-expression consti­tutes the substrate, the slumbering ember that can — spark to flame in the form of an act of resistance when conditions permit.’¹⁵

In the view of Aysha Hidayatullah, ‘the feminist exegetical work and moral agency of Muslim women within the parameters of the Quran, which they treat as the divine word of God, and to which they attribute the principle of the equal­ity of all human beings — male and female.’¹⁶ Although Amber never claims to be a feminist, neither is she into the re-interpretation of Quran exegetical works in the feminist sense. Rather, she is proud to claim being influenced by theolo­gian Abul Ala Maududi, who has traditional conceptions on women and their rights.¹⁷ What she intends to work with is an inter-judicial paradigm, taking the interpretations from all juristic schools on women’s issues, particularly on mat­rimony and divorce, but applying them flexibly from case to case; although she never conforms of talfiq (judicial eclecticism) as her methodology, it may be due to ignorance about the Islamic legal terminology.¹⁸

Labeling her an Islamic feminist would be incorrect in the true sense of the term.

Given that there are divergent opinions among the various adjudication bod­ies and jurists on the interpretation of the law, how does AIMWPLB perceive itself within the frameworks of interpretation of laws and adjudication of cases? AIMWPLB is the organization that works for the promotion of women’s rights in terms of abolition of the practices of triple talaq (divorce), halala, etc. Its cam­paign includes fighting violence against Muslim women, particularly enhanced by the Muslim fundamentalist interpretation due to which acts of violence are legitimized through religion. The campaign of the board is not to save Muslim women from their religion, which to media and secular liberals is backward and regressive, but to relocate their rights within the Islamic discourse itself.

The board tries to sort out the issues related to women by entering into theo­logical debates, vigorously endorsing reinterpretation of the Quran, especially in matters of divorce, halala and polygamy.

Today, the formally educated Muslim women have the firsthand knowl­edge of the religious texts. With the result on one hand they have begun to challenge the validity of the interpolative elements in the religion on the other and they have become staunch followers of Islam, fully aware of the restrictions and liberties sanctioned to them in Koran. These women are different from those of the earlier generation in the sense that they have not oriented their lives on the so called traditional religious behavior blindly, but they have made efforts to understand the religious scripture.²⁰

The board was started to help distressed Muslim women in need. In the forma­tion year itself the board held its first local adalat (courts) and registered 166 cases against triple talaq and domestic violence related to dowry.²¹ It also aimed at pro­viding shelter to the downtrodden, medical facilities to the underprivileged and rehabilitation of women. Started as a social organization with the aim of rehabilita­tion of women, especially the victims of domestic abuse and rape, it grew rapidly and started to look into the marital disputes. Its influence in Uttar Pradesh grew manifold by campaigning, increasing media popularity and adjudicating divorce cases. The adjudication of the divorce cases made her venture into the Islamic laws of divorce, maintenance and polygamy. The adjudication took the necessary course of reconciliation into account before declaring any marital relations as a failure and there by pronouncing divorce. The intervention in cases of divorce between family, local groups and community remains important rather than using courts.

As a social activist fighting for women, I was always asked by media that why do not I fight against the fatwa which come from the ulama against women or divorce cases related to women? Till that time, I was only fight­ing against the rape cases or against the cases of domestic abuse and was only conscious about the needs of women in general, but then I thought of the needs of the Muslim women in particular. Because of that interaction with one journalist, I started thinking on the lines of the rights of Muslim women pre and post-divorce.²²

The board has been effective in solving disputes in and around the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Besides this they successfully constituted a model nikahn- ama (marriage contract) in the year of the formation of board. This nikahnama is gender friendly, and the highlight of the document is to nullify the triple talaq and also to promote the rule by the Supreme Court that the married couples should register their marriage as a proof for future. This nikahnama is according to the teachings of the Quran and as per sharia. Her petition in the court against the triple talaq system has been a challenge to her and the rulings against it term­ing it as unconstitutional is so far her most important aim that has been achieved. For her this new nikahnama is a message to the new generation so that they do not turn out to be victims of triple talaq or any injustice on part of their husbands. In a fieldwork conducted in a Muslim ghetto in Kanpur, Anindita Chakrabarti and Suchandra Ghosh depict the ignorance of the religious specialists and local imams about the usage of these new nikahnamas. In their opinion,

Local clergy struggle to make ends meet and the religious specialists themselves hardly know anything, let alone about the model nikahnama. Codified texts, however carefully drafted, wilt in these labyrinths of col­lective unemployment, underemployment, and poverty.²³

Amber’s other objectives include lobbying in the Supreme Court against the Triple Talaq Act and reform of Shariat Act, 1937, which according to her is the evolution of colonial times when more of the feudal class was into law making. Muslims in India in contemporary times need a new marriage act, which will include the rights and benefits for women. Islam in itself is a refined and modern religion and it is made for every period because Islam in itself is revolutionary. In Islamic countries, the law of divorce has been implemented and in India, because of some vested interests, people do not allow for revolutionary changes.

In the opinion ofVrinda Narain, ‘Muslim women have been excluded from the interpretation of religious texts, from articulating their interests, and from partici­pating in the dialogue between the state and community to reach an understanding as to what aspects of their rights may be negotiated and what may not’.²⁴ Albeit this argument was being made when the board was non-existent, this argument lacks validity in general. Islam as a religion is based on individualism; reform cannot be directed to any church like in Christianity and interpretations have to be individu- alistic.²⁵ Not only do Muslim women groups interpret the religious texts but also make persistent use of state agencies to assert their rights. AIMWPLB makes use of the state machinery for the acknowledgement of their efforts, which gets proved by their meeting with the top functionaries of the state. By trying to make informal dialogue with state functionaries, they try to get their demands accepted. According to Jean Philippe Dequen, an expert in South Asian law,

The AIMWPLB is perfectly aware that it has not gained enough legitimacy to transform its legal opinion on Islamic law into legal rulings that would be directly applicable — whether socially or through the official judiciary’s recognition. Therefore, it seeks help of the state (through its constitutional frame) to legitimize its positions.²⁶

III.