The fight against triple talaq is not just a fight of Indian Muslim women against non-representative and decrepit organisations like AIMPLB. It is also a fight of all liberal and progressive Muslims against the demagoguery of community leaders who raise a false alarm of Islam in danger and thereby communalise the whole issue.

The tussle between All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and many liberal and progressive Muslims as well as Muslim women’s organisations, viz. the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) on the issue of abolition of triple talaq, has brought to the fore an issue which has plagued the Muslim community, especially the women, since ages.

The issue has also been fuelled by Shayara Bano’s case, in which a woman after facing 15 years of domestic violence was divorced by her husband, sending her a talaqnama by post. The issue immediately caught media limelight and parallels started being drawn with the similar rhyming case of Shah Bano of 1985, in which a 62-year-old, mother of five children, divorced from her husband, won the right to alimony in the Supreme Court.

However, the then Congress government under pressure of orthodox ulema passed the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, which diluted the Supreme Court judgment and denied even the destitute Muslim divorcees the right to alimony. It was a classic example of placating the orthodox community leaders for the sake of reaping political dividends through community support, which gave tooth to non-representative and decrepit organizations like AIMPLB. The AIMPLB was instrumental in pressuring the government to enact the Muslim Women’s Act in 1986 as well as the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, during the pre-independence period.

It is either their silence out of convenience or mischievous ignorance or insincere desire to project and maintain themselves as custodians of the community, due to which they are not willing to accept the reality that there are numerous legal precedents in the past 15 years which have rejected the marital dissolution plea through triple talaq mechanism.

The recent incidents have reignited the need for codification of Muslim Personal Law today. In fact, what is known as Muslim Personal Law today was known either as Anglo-Mohammedan Law during the British period or simply as Mohammedan Law and was enacted by the British. But after independence the terminology was changed and the Anglo Mohammedan Law, in order to wipe out its colonial stamp, came to be re-named as Muslim Personal Law.

However, its contents did not change. Thus, the change in terminology was oriented towards wiping out the colonial stamp and did not in any way restructure the contents in tune with the changed social milieu. Women, Muslim and non-Muslim, did not have a say in religious matters during the colonial times. However, 68 years post independence things have changed and women today across communities are becoming vociferous against misogynist traditions introduced/preserved by orthodox religious leaders which suited the patriarchal setup.

The recent tussle between the AIMPLB and BMMA can be seen in this light. It needs to be reiterated that the political victory won by the AIMPLB in the Shah Bano case, whereby it was successful in diluting the Supreme Court’s judgment through political intervention, not just provided it legitimacy as a legal body of the Muslim community, but also the privilege to counter Supreme Court jurisdiction in the garb of religious injunctions which cannot be violated by courts. This has set a bad precedent and privilege which the AIMPLB is not willing to forego.

Whenever a case against triple talaq comes into court the AIMPLB takes it as an intrusion in its legal domain. It pleads that the courts have no jurisdiction to adjudicate over Muslim Personal law since it is inextricably interwoven with the religion of Islam, which is based on Quranic injunctions and is not a law enacted by Parliament. However, what the AIMPLB misses out completely are the legal precedents over the past 15 years, whereby triple talaq has been invalidated by courts time and again. 

The AIMPLB has decided to contest Shayara Bano case and oppose any move to scrap triple talaq. Muslim leaders like the MIM leader and MP from Hyderabad Asaduddin Owaisi have also thrown their weight behind the AIMPLB move saying that the AIMPLB must the hire best lawyers to put up a strong case before the Supreme Court. But what escapes the attention of these self-proclaimed leaders and custodians of the Muslim community are the legal precedents involving triple talaq.

It is either their silence out of convenience or mischievous ignorance or insincere desire to project and maintain themselves as custodians of the community, due to which they are not willing to accept the reality that there are numerous legal precedents in the past 15 years which have rejected the marital dissolution plea through triple talaq mechanism.

The Supreme Court, in a landmark ruling in Shamim Ara v State of UP (2002) invalidated arbitrary triple talaq and held that a mere plea of talaq in reply to the proceedings filed by the wife for maintenance cannot be treated as a pronouncement of talaq and the liability of the husband to pay maintenance to his wife does not come to an end through such communication. The court held that in order to be valid, talaq has to be pronounced as per Quranic injunctions.

In 2002 again, the full bench of the Bombay High Court in Dagdu Pathan v Rahimbi Pathan case held that a Muslim husband cannot repudiate the marriage at will. The Quranic injunctions were invoked during the hearing of this case as well, with the court ruling that all stages – conveying the reasons for divorce, appointment of arbitrators, conciliation proceedings between parties – are required to be proved when the wife disputes the fact of talaq before a competent court. A mere statement in writing or oral disposition before the court regarding talaq sometime in the past is not sufficient to prove the fact of divorce.

The Bombay High Court, in Najmunbee v Sk Sikander Sk Rahman (2004), reiterated this position and held that a Muslim husband cannot repudiate his marriage at will. He has to prove supporting reasons for his decision and it cannot be based on a mere whim. Muslim law mandates pre-divorce reconciliation between parties through the intervention of arbitrators.

In Dilshad Begaum Ahmadkhan Pathan v Ahmadkhan Hanifkhan Pathan (2007) case, the Bombay High Court held that though the husband had proven (in the sessions court) that he had pronounced talaq it was not valid and legal as the additional requirements like, the reasons for divorce, the appointment of arbitrators and conciliation proceedings to bring about reconciliation, had not been proved.

In Riaz Fatima v Mohd Sharif (2007) case, the husband had pleaded that since he had divorced his wife she was not entitled to maintenance. He produced the photocopy of a fatwa obtained by him regarding the validity of the talaq. Rejecting the husband’s contention, the magistrate’s court had awarded maintenance to the wife and child. The Sessions court however overruled this decision and set aside the order of maintenance.

In an appeal, the Delhi High Court laid down clear guidelines regarding the process of proving talaq: (a) divorce must have a reasonable cause and the husband has to provide evidence showing the cause which compelled him to divorce; (b) he has to prove that the word talaq was proclaimed thrice in the presence of a witness or in a letter, (c) he has to prove that an attempt at reconciliation has been made prior to divorce; and (d) there has to be proof of payment of meher and observance of iddat (the period of waiting by a woman after divorce or the spouse’s death before she can marry again).

The court, turning down the plea of the husband stated that in the present case there was insufficient evidence to prove that the husband had pronounced talaq on his wife. A mere statement before the court by the husband, stating that he divorced his wife on a particular day, would not suffice. All the prerequisites have to be fulfilled before a Muslim husband can divorce his wife.

If the AIMPLB was oblivious of all the above legal precedents, they should have at least heeded the recent ruling of Bombay High Court in Shakil Ahmad Sheikh v Vahida Shakil Sheikh (2016) case whereby the court reaffirmed that the plea taken by the husband that he had given talaq to his wife at an earlier date does not amount to the dissolution of marriage, unless the talaq is duly proved and was given by following the conditions precedent, namely, arbitration/ reconciliation and valid reasons.

The mere existence of a document like a talaqnama or the utterance of the word talaq thrice would not in any way dissolve the marriage if it is not preceded by arbitration, reconciliation, valid reasons for giving divorce, observance of iddat and payment of mehr, and the same are required to be pleaded and proved before the court.

In the wake of aforementioned observances, it can be safely concluded that the fight against triple talaq is not just a fight of Indian Muslim women against non-representative and decrepit organisations like AIMPLB, which claims to be the sovereign body on Muslim Personal Law without having proper knowledge about Quranic injunctions and legal precedents on triple talaq. It is also a fight of all liberal and progressive Muslims against the demagoguery of community leaders who raise a false alarm of Islam in danger and thereby communalise the whole issue so as to reap political dividends.

It is also a fight against the insidiousness of media which projects every single case of triple talaq as a case of Islamic law vs. secular law, the archaic vs. modern and the oppressive vs. the civilised, while conveniently overlooking the legal precedents against it.

References:
Agnes, F. (2016): “Muslim Women's Rights and Media Coverage”, Economic and Political Weekly, Vol LI No 22, pp. 13-16.
Ali, Arshad (2016): “Triple talaq is a non-issue, brought up to implement uniform civil code: AIMPLB”, The Indian Express.
Anusaya, Ila S. (2016): “Muslim Women Do Not Want Triple Talaq Banned, Says AIMPLB”, The Wire.
Anusaya, Ila S. (2016): “Women’s Rights Activists Rally in Support of Shayara Bano”, The Wire.
Engineer, Asghar A. (2004): “Abolishing Triple Talaq. What next?” Economic and Political Weekly, pp 3093-3094.
Rizvi, A. (2016): “The Indian Media’s Focus on Shayara Bano Betrays an Ignorance of Important Precedents”, The Wire.
Sanyal, A (2016): “Muslim Women Want Triple Talaq Out, 50,000 Sign Petition”, NDTV.
Siddiqui, Parwez I., (2016): “Triple Talaq: Muslim Law Board to contest Shayara Bano case in Supreme Court”, The Times of India.

(The writer is a research scholar at the Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi).

The post Triple Talaq: Time for the Ulema to Wake Up and Smell the Coffee appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Photo: Courtesy DNA

The self-appointed custodians of Islam are doing the greatest disservice to Islam and Muslims, women especially

In our understanding the values of kindness, compassion and justice are the core values enshrined in the Quran. Clearly, hegemony is not an Islamic value and yet the experiences we have undergone in the course of our work in the last ten years give rise to certain fundamental questions.

Why are so many Muslims, particularly men, so hegemonic in their thinking? Why do most of them seem to think that reading, understanding and interpreting of the Quran is a sole male prerogative? They seem to think that Allah created men and women as unequal. This view of an unjust Allah is not acceptable to us and therein lies the crux of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan’s (BMMA) existence.

Globally, eminent scholars such as the late professor Fatima Mernissi, Dr Amina Wadud, Dr Khalid Masood, Dr Ziba Mir Hosseini and several more have dedicated their lives to reading and interpreting the Quran to highlight that Allah is just and fair. Volumes have been written on the tawhidic framework about Allah as a uniting, harmonizing force. But the fact remains that these scholarly works that bring out the essence of Islam as a religion of peace and justice remain unheeded and are not referred to by large mass of people in Muslim societies.

Unfortunately, the dominant thought processes that control Muslim societies remain patriarchal. The traditions and practices followed are often in direct violation of the Quranic spirit of justice. The stranglehold of patriarchal hegemony in India and in South Asia has got exacerbated by the arrival of Salafi-Wahhabi ideologies that now threaten to become the mainstream in Muslim society. This ideology has led to further strengthening of the hegemony of patriarchal mindsets in our community. Practices such as triple talaq and halala are manifestations of this trend. But at the core of this thinking is a patriarchal mindset of male superiority and domination.

We want to refer here to the dominant common sense prevalent in the Indian Muslim community about men being superior to women. Islam gave equal rights to women over 1400 years ago; but have they been translated into reality? So long as the dominant common sense about male superiority dictates the mindsets and behavior of Muslims these rights will remain on paper.

In what has been a masterstroke the patriarchal forces have succeeded in attributing this subjugation and injustice to Islam through misinterpretations, distortions and lies. They have invented fiction, half-truths and references that equate women with cattle and allow the men to get away with the worst kind of atrocities against them. In the process they not only violate the basic tenets of Islam, they also help demonisation and stereotyping of the whole community.

They treat their wives, sisters, mothers and daughters unjustly and, even if unwittingly, help the Hindutva campaigns. The self-appointed custodians of Islam do greatest disservice to Muslims and to Islam. It is a pity that even some so-called educated Muslims blindly support these custodians thanks to the common sense about male superiority in Islam that they suffer from.

Why has there been no concerted effort so far to challenge these patriarchal custodians? Why is it that the Muslim women themselves had to initiate a challenge to these hegemonic elements? Why are the wise Muslim men not supporting Muslim women’s’ struggle for Quranic rights of justice and equality? Or are they forever going to allow the conservative clerics to keep deciding for all 17 crore of us?

Why has there been no concerted effort so far to challenge these patriarchal custodians? Why is it that the Muslim women themselves had to initiate a challenge to these hegemonic elements? Why are the wise Muslim men not supporting Muslim women’s’ struggle for Quranic rights of justice and equality? Or are they forever going to allow the conservative clerics to keep deciding for all 17 crore of us? Are they not aware that Islam has no place for intermediaries between Allah and believers? And lastly, what legitimacy do they have to question Muslim women who stand up and fight for their Quranic rights?

We will recount here some direct evidence about the dominant Indian Muslim male thinking being hegemonic and in violation of Islamic values of justice and fairness. This is not to say that there are no exceptional and courageous Muslim men; all of us know many of them in our respective spheres. But as a whole, it is the patriarchal conservative thought process that dominates our conduct.

All of us Muslim women had come together in the aftermath of the communal violence of Gujarat in 2002 to unequivocally oppose the communal forces and to demand rehabilitation and justice for the survivors. Our work at the time was focused around fighting discrimination on communal basis and demanding equal citizenship for the largest minority.
As we began to know and learn about each other spread across different parts of the country we could at once identify a lot of common ground and the need for coming together as a national entity. We were all bold and gutsy women who had fought with their own adverse circumstances and were struggling for equal citizenship in our respective locations and local contexts.

After informal interactions spanning over nearly two years we realised that we shared a commonality of purpose and had a shared worldview. We felt that Indian Muslims were poor and backward despite the Constitutional guarantees. We agreed that we were denied our Quranic rights thanks to the nexus between the patriarchal forces in our community and various governments. We decided that we need to change the situation.
 
We were clear that women needed to take up the leadership of the Muslim community in India for so-called male leadership was responsible for the all-round failure. We formed the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan in January 2007. Our name was a very deliberated and considered exercise. We felt that we needed a name that spells out what we stood for. We were as Bharatiya as anyone else and we would not offer apologies for being Muslim and Bharatiya. Nobody can appropriate the word Bharatiya and exclude others.

We put together our worldview in the form of our mission document where we clearly stated that we believe in the values of justice, equality, pluralism and democracy enshrined in the Constitution of India. We also clearly stated that we saw no contradiction between these values and the Quranic values. We set forth to work on attaining our Quranic as well as citizenship rights. We clearly stated our solidarity with all those who are working for justice and equality in the country and the world.

We also stated that we believe in secularism, religious harmony and peaceful co-existence as opposed to communalism and intolerance. We wanted to develop an alternative voice of the Muslim community that was rooted in pluralism and mutual respect between communities. And we were clear that it should be a feminine voice as the regressive male voices had failed to achieve anything for Indian Muslims in sixty years after 1947.

Nobody asks where these scholars are when a triple talaq takes place in their respective cities or mohallas! Nobody talks about the scholars’ moral obligation to act when practices like halala are found rampant in our society! Another common experience is being told by a male member of a largely Muslim audience: your views are ok but why are you not dressed in Islamic way? Pray what is the Islamic way, we ask?

We embarked on a journey towards our mission focusing on the citizenship rights of our excluded community. A campaign on Sachar Committee’s findings and implementation of the recommendations was taken up in the initial years nationally and in various states. As soon as we found some bearings and women started becoming our members in large members we were faced with the reality of legal discrimination against Muslim women.

Across all states women began coming to us saying: I was divorced orally; I was thrown out after triple talaq, where do I go with my children; I received a post card from my husband divorcing me; I was away at my parents’ home for two months and learnt that my husband has married another woman; my husband divorced me and now wants me back; the qazi is asking me to undergo halala (meaning, marry and consummate marriage with another man, divorce him, only then remarry your former husband) etc etc.

The sad reality of male hegemony that rules the roost in our community ostensibly in the name of Islam dawned on us! We could not have asked the women to just go away! We realised that the long-term solution lay in the codification of the Muslim personal law based on the Quranic tenets. And this brought us into direct confrontation with the established patriarchal forces who had always spoken in the name of religion. We are not attempting here to give a summary of our work; anyone interested reader can visit our website. (www.bmmaindia.com).

Every public meeting, every seminar, every program of ours takes us on a familiar pattern of responses from Muslim males. We have women participating in large numbers, giving their testimonies, their inputs on a range of issues such as Muslim personal law, government schemes, communal harmony, different happenings in society etc. Above all, they give us their trust.

But invariably at the end of the program a Muslim male stands up and begins teaching us about Islam as he perceives it. He takes it upon himself, in spite of his apparent ignorance of the issue, to teach us about Islamic tenets. He thinks it is his prerogative since he represents the male species in a room full of women! Often such wise men beat a retreat when ordinary women start retorting with evidence and confidence.

We see another interesting response pattern at different public hearings across the country of women who have been orally divorced. After hearing heart-rending testimonies of their suffering, when there is an open discussion towards the end a male would stand up. He would say in a satiric, authoritative or sometimes angry tone that all this talk about triple talaq is uncalled for since triple talaq is un-Islamic!

Then, some of us would ask: why then does it take place in our society? Why do we not have a law against it? To this he would have no answers. Our women leaders regularly get invited to speak at various fora. It is a common occurrence, especially if the gathering has large numbers of Muslim male participants, to be told that your views are ok but we need to consult scholars. Obviously, in their opinion a scholar is someone with grey hair and maybe a beard!

Nobody asks where these scholars are when a triple talaq takes place in their respective cities or mohallas! Nobody talks about the scholars’ moral obligation to act when practices like halala are found rampant in our society! Another common experience is being told by a male member of a largely Muslim audience: your views are ok but why are you not dressed in Islamic way? Pray what is the Islamic way, we ask, only to receive stock replies. Again we see male hegemony at play trying to hide behind Islamic dress this time!
The problem seems to be that these men are not used to the presence of empowered women in their midst, leave alone their opinions. And they take refuge behind an imagined version of Islam for they have no real arguments.

Sometimes some well-educated persons who are sympathetic to our work end up suggesting: your draft law on Muslim Personal Law is very good; why don’t you send it to some ulema for their approval? This is gross ignorance to say the least and in the ultimate analysis only strengthens the stranglehold of patriarchy.

In recent days when the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of our demands for reform in Muslim Personal Law, a well-known Muslim lawyer pleaded with the court to allow the male clerics to be party to the petition. We wonder why a Muslim lawyer of such eminence would think it fit to rope in the clerics for this. After all, is he not aware that the conservative clerics are the impediment to any solution? In fact they are not just part of the problem; they are the problem!

This section has stonewalled any talk of reform in Muslim Personal Law since 1947. In 1986 they raised a hue and cry over a pittance of Rs 125 being provided to 65-year-old Shah Bano as maintenance post divorce on the ground that this would put Islam and Muslims in danger! And yet if large sections of educated Muslims think that the male orthodoxy is the sole custodian of Islam there is something wrong here. This is rank patriarchal hegemony being passed off as Islam.  
 

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The co-founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, Zakia Soman, was overwhelmed by the response of students and teachers, women and men, to her call for radical change in the mind-set of Indian Muslims
 

When I received an invite from the Aligah Muslim University Teachers Association for a keynote address on 8^th March International Women’s Day I was truly overwhelmed. It invoked so many emotions in me; I was both excited and apprehensive at the same time. The significance of a historic academic institution such as AMU is tremendous. But the apprehension in my mind was about how a talk on gender justice in Islam would be received by the community there. I was tentative as to what must be the perception about Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and the work we have been doing. On reaching Aligarh, being face-to-face with gutsy women faculty members was reassuring.

I am happy to say that the meeting turned out to be one of the most fulfilling and exhilarating interactions I have had. I addressed two meetings; the morning one at the Women’s’ College auditorium at the historic Abdullah Hall and another one at the Teachers’ Club. Following is a brief account of the two interactions.

The first meeting was scheduled for 10.30 a.m. The hall became jam-packed as we started with a welcome by the vice-principal professor Iffat Ara followed by introductory remarks by professor Shadab Bano from the history department. My salute to Shadab, the moving force behind the programme.

I began by saying how Indian Muslims who are the country’s largest minority live in poverty, socio-economic backwardness and religious conservatism. I shared some key findings of the Sachar Committee about low educational status and lack of jobs. I emphasised the need to make elected governments accountable towards its Constitutional obligation towards enabling the inclusion of minorities in the socio-economic processes.

I also elaborated as to how this exclusion gets exacerbated by the threat from right-wing Hindutva forces who dream of a Hindu Rashtra as opposed to our Constitution whereby we are a secular democratic republic where all citizens are equal. But we at the BMMA hold broadly two categories responsible for the all-round exclusion of Muslims. While we seek accountability from the state we must also seek accountability from the so-called community leadership for this failure. And this brings us to the question of the double exclusion of women; as citizens and as women followers of Islam.

The conduct of a Muslim should correspond to the values of kindness, compassion, justice and wisdom which are the core values of Islam. Any conduct contrary to this is not Islamic. Please, let not anyone tell you anything other than this: any behavior, any act, any practice, any idea that does not measure up to your personal sense of justice, kindness and compassion  should be resisted as un-Islamic.

I am no scholar but in my simple understanding the message of social justice and human rights is the core message of Islam which I believe was revolutionary 1400 years ago. Again in my understanding as an ordinary person, this message is taken forward through the values of kindness, compassion, justice and wisdom which are the core values of the religion of Islam.

The conduct of a Muslim should correspond to these values and any conduct contrary to this is not Islamic. Please, let not anyone tell you anything other than this: any behavior, any act, any practice, any idea that does not measure up to your personal sense of justice, kindness and compassion should be resisted and as un-Islamic.

You are all students and some of us here are faculty members. We are all taken up by our pursuits and may or may not have the time and the means to go very deep into all religious issues. But we must read ourselves, we can read good tarjumas (translations) and we must equally read good tafsirs (commentaries) as there is lot of diversity of opinion in the way the Quran has been interpreted.

And we as empowered Muslims have the choice to choose the commentaries that we want to follow. And there is no obligation to follow the exegesis – of which there are very many – written by patriarchal and conservative scholars who have imposed their own orthodox notions over the Quranic teachings. Remember, it must conform to your sense of justice, kindness and compassion and Allah wants you to exercise your wisdom while reading any translation or interpretation.

A brief look at the characterization of women in the Quran as well as a reading of women characters in the life of the Prophet will tell you that men and women are equal in the eyes of Allah. Allah is just and fair and let no man or woman tell you anything otherwise.

Let me recall here aspects from the life of Bibi Khadija, the first wife of Prophet Mohammed. If we look at her in modern terms, I must say she was equivalent to what we call the chairperson of a multi-national company. She employed large number of staff and her business empire covered far off lands up to Syria in the north and Yemen in the South.

She must have been an able governance expert to be presiding over such as an empire. She must be extremely courageous and resolute in her personal life to get married to a much younger person after being widowed. And yet, why is the fact not being highlighted that Bibi Khadija, a woman was the first human being to embrace Muslim after the Prophet. Why is this fact not dominating the narratives about our religion? Is it because the patriarchal minds do not think this aspect important?

Let us also briefly look at the persona of Hazrat Aisha. Again, if we think in today’s terms she combines the qualities of a compassionate social leader, a military strategist, an astute diplomat and a fearless human being. Today the AAP government is being credited for being pro-people because they carried out a referendum to know the minds of citizens of Delhi. Hazrat Aisha held an elaborate referendum, held consultations and negotiations involving all key players spread across a vast geography when there was a threat from the enemy army. She saw to it that views and opinions of every section of society were sought and nobody was excluded. Then how are we women being excluded from society today? Is this exclusion Islamic? Certainly not. We all need to stand up and demand our rightful place as equal human beings and equal Muslims as Allah wants us to.  

Throughout my talk the girls clapped vigorously whenever they agreed with something and wanted others to know it. There were many comments and questions by girls that followed the talk. They asked key questions such as, “Why can’t we have women read and interpret the Quran?” They were agitated about triple talaq. If it is not sanctioned by the Quran why was it permitted in our society? Some girls suggested banning of the barbaric practice of halala.

The question then arises as to how come our religion gave us equal rights 1400 years ago and yet we have not become equal? Subsequent to the departure of the Prophet what kind of vested interests took over and began a systematic distortion of the message needs to be understood. How did inhuman treatment of women become the norm is a question we must ask.

The incidence of un-Quranic practices such as triple talaq and halala continue in our society uncontrolled and unchecked. This is a mockery of all values and principles that we cherish. These violations can stop only if we stand up and empower ourselves as Muslim women. We need to read the Quran and understand the message of Allah directly for ourselves. We need to demand a comprehensive reform in Muslim personal law to curb ill practices of triple talaq and polygamy.

There was a huge applause when I concluded. Throughout my talk the girls clapped vigorously whenever they agreed with something and wanted others to know it. There were many comments and questions by girls that followed the talk. They asked key questions such as, “Why can’t we have women read and interpret the Quran?” They were agitated about triple talaq. If it is not sanctioned by the Quran why was it permitted in our society? Some girls suggested banning of the barbaric practice of halala.

A young faculty member was agitated over why a woman owning a home or a piece of land is a rare occurrence in our society despite Quranic injunctions about women’s share in property. One student opined that more and more of us should train and equip ourselves to fight injustice in society. They wanted to know more about Islamic feminism and how they can join the movement.

The second meeting at the Teachers’ Club was attended by men and women faculty members, research scholars, Aligarh citizens. The media was also present. The meeting was chaired by the president of AMUTA, professor Mujahid Baig who called for equal rights for women in his opening remarks.

I began by saying that since everybody present was well informed I will speak broadly about what ails the Indian Muslims today. I went on to list the issues faced by the community and how the government as well as the leadership had not done much to resolve anything. I asked a direct question to the community leadership about whether they take responsibility for this continuous marginalisation since they are the ones who have been claiming to represent all the 15 crore of us.

I compared the effective handling of the post-Kandhamal communal violence scenario by the leaders of the Christian community as against our own mishandling in Gujarat, Muzaffarnagar and so many other places. I asked whether our leaders truly believed in justice and equality or was it just something to be conveniently invoked while talking to the government as Muslims.

I then went on to the subject of wilful exclusion of women from all spheres of life in our community. I asked what Muslim leaders have done for women’s equality in society. And since they have not done anything, is it not high time we allowed newer people – women and men – to take up the leadership. And I called for a rejection of these so-called leaders.

I dwelt at some length on the Shah Bano case and asked: How can our religion be in danger if a 65-year-old divorced woman is given maintenance which is her Quranic right? I went on to say that nothing has changed since 1986 and talked about how in open violation of the Quranic injunctions ills such as triple talaq, polygamy and halala are still taking place in our society.

I emphasised the need for codification of the Muslim personal law based on the Quranic framework just like so many Muslim countries have already done. I asked: Why do we have to always follow the lowest common denominator of existing Muslim societies? I called for rejecting the Wahhabi brand of religion and instead portrayed a gender-just and humanist face of Islam.

Rather than Saudi Arabia we should follow progressive models such as Tunisia, Indonesia, Morocco etc., I said. I also said that leaving it to so-called scholars would mean continued injustice as the scholars have not spoken out against the violations of Quranic injunctions pertaining to women’s rights in marriage, family and society.

No scholar can claim that only his fraternity is tasked with understanding and interpreting Islam because our religion has no place for middlemen. Plus that would be Brahmanic and unacceptable. I emphasised the need for voices from academic communities to support the reform movement and overall movement for gender justice in today’s lived Islam. I said I was sorry if my words hurt someone’s feelings but this is the truth as prevalent in our Muslim society today.

Yet again, to my very pleasant surprise there was an overwhelming support to what I said judging by the comments and questions that followed. One young academic called for more numbers of women scholars to address the issues of gender justice. Another called for a kind of listing down of needs of women in our society and a plan to address those.
 
One scholar called for special attention to the plight of women during and post communal riots. One participant said that it was high time the hegemony of patriarchal bodies such as personal law board is ended. There was reiteration of the need to read and interpret the Quran in a gender-just framework.

There was a discussion on how women qazis and women scholars could be the way forward.
 
The meeting ended with Dr Ashraf Malik, joint secretary, AMUTA proposing a vote of thanks. While doing this he emphasised the need for extension of equal rights to women in marriage and family.
 
All in all, for me it was a truly fulfilling Women’s Day at Aligarh.
 

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Illustration: Amili Setalvad

Nearly 12 years ago, an over 70-year-old women won and then, thanks to the “soldiers of Islam” lost the battle for a Muslim divorcee’s right to maintenance. Shah Bano is no more. But her struggle for gender justice lives, through the damning prose of Pakistani writer, ZAHIDA HENA.
Abba Miyan has been coming to her for the last two nights. There he is, talking a stroll in the garden. Turning to her he says, “Shahenshah Bano, I have been remembering you a lot these days’’. As she tries to get up to salute him, the illusion evaporates: No garden, no Abba Miyan “Shahenshah

Bano”! she mutters to herself bitterly. “Why did you give an ill-fated women like me such a name, Abba Miyan?’’

Of sleep there is no sign; her entire life comes rushing back to her.

There she is, all decked up in floral ornaments just like a bride. The fragrance is intoxicating. The entire family has assembled for the occasion. All the girls look wistfully at this first one in the family from their gender who is being initiated into learning. Abba Miyan hands a pen in her trembling hands which she dips into ink made with saffron. The novelty of the situation is evident to everyone present: This girl is going to learn not only to read but also write. Abba Miyan is a supporter of modernity, of women’s education. When the daughter is old enough to read, her cupboard is full of books. But for the strong opposition from his wife, he would have given her an English education, too.

How time files. Here she, is surrounded by her friends. What fun, her reading out to them, in secret, stories of Amir Hamza and Tilism Hosharba, stories which men have written for male consumption only and which women are prohibited from reading.

They respond to these stories with a mixture of amazement and incredulity. Their own lives are circumscribed by the boundaries of the Zanakhana (women’s quarter)…. when at last freed from here, they will populate the graveyards. But Tilism Hosharba’s world is entirely different… here women rule. Its women who ride the horses in battlefields, it is they who vanquish men with swords and arrows, and magic spells. Afterwards, they tie up the vanquished men and carry them away on their horses. These women… they love, they envy, they set up mehfil for their own entertainment… Oh! What queens and women with magical powers are these before whom all have to bow in subservience.

Its time for Shahenshah Bano’s marriage, a time of happiness mingled with doubt and anxiety. She does not knows, that her life is being headed on a course of ruin, not fulfilment. When she leaves her parental home, she leaves behind all the love affection and caring with which she, whose footwear had always been adorned with shining stars, would now herself be treated as dirt. She, whose bath water was always scented with rose will from now on remain drowned in misery day and night.

As marriage turned her life into a veritable hell, she often thought, Abba Miyan? Do names determine fate? Over whom did you think I would rule when you named me Shahenshah? Was I some Noorjahan in whose name coin would be minted? Where did I share the fate of Arjumand Bano to have a Taj Mahal erected in my name? Abba Miyan, I was not even a Gulbadan Bano or a Zaibunnisa Begum to write my memories or poetry, and organise gatherings attended by Persian princes.

‘’I am just an ordinary Muslim women… incapable of thought…. Only as worthy as a man’s footwear … the sole purpose of my being born was to be married off to some man and spend the rest of my life in deference to his every wish and whim…life me an endless wail, death the only means of my freedom …Abba Miyan , I complain not about whom you got me married to, my grouse is that you chose to get me educated, encouraged me to think. Why did you make me a princess only in name?

She was reminded of the Behishti Zewar (Ornament of Paradise) which Amma had with great feeling included in her dowry along with the Holly Quran. A trunk full of books- Tilism Hosharaba, Alif Laila , Indra Sabha, Aaraish Mehfil, Arab ka Chand, Mansoor Mohan included—had also accompanied her to her marital abode

That evening a few weeks after her marriage will forever remain imprinted in her consciousness when her Majaazi Khuda (Worldly god), Mustafa Ali Khan alias Dular Miyan, saw a book in her hand for the first time. The very next moment the book was shred to pieces and flung out of the house. The next thing that Dulare Miyan did was a bonfire of all her book in his courtyard.

The son of Abba Miyan’s  friend, a student of law then turned towards the humid and dingy room where she sat in silence. His menacing voice tore Shahenshah to pieces: ‘’I swear by Allah, Dhul Jalal (The Lord of Majesty), if after today I ever see a printed page or pen in your hands, I’ll make mince meat of your fingers and parcel them to your father.’’

Her heads lowered, Shahenshah Bano merely started at her fingers and hennalaced hands. Evidently, a sword or a dagger is not essential to cut of hands. The mere words of a Majaazi Khuda  are enough to slash off a limb, Slice off fingers. That is why from the day of her marriage till the moment of his death, her father longed for a few words in her own handwriting.

She was well aware where Dulare Miyan went every evening after dressing up in style. She knew whose hands fed her the paans. Which tainted his lips red and the perfumes from whose attire he perfumes from whose attire he carried on his person when he returned home late every night. She knew, too, that Dulare Miyan was a poet of sorts who participated in mushairas  and narrated stories of love and romance. He was, of course, entitled to his pleasures. He had been in love with a cousin but family squabbles came in the way. For his failed love, he sought solace from Laqabai and took revenge on Shahenshah Bano.  

Some months after the marriage, Dulare Miyan retuned home late one evening as usual. This was the first time that while she waited for him, Shahenshah Bano had dozed off involuntarily. The moment she heard the door of her room open, she woke up with a start and turned on the lamp. As Dulare Miyan was taking off his perfume-laden Sherwani, he noticed the sleep in her eyes. He was outraged. Filing his  Sherwani to one side, he pulled out the Baheshti Zewar  from the shelf.

‘’Did your father teach you nothing about religion?’’ Dulare Miyan razor sharp voice flashed like lighting in the her dingy room. ‘’My daughter has read the Holly Quran fully, is familiar with Hadith, has read scores of books, she has read the Behishti Zewar, too’’, said Dulare Miyan imitating her father’s voice while turning the pages of Behishti Zewar.

‘’Please don’t drag Abba Miyan in this’’, she pleaded in a broken voice . ‘’Dare you argue with me? Is he your father or Allah Miyan about whom nothing can be said? You obviously know nothing about religious edicts. Listen, this is what His Holiness Hazrat Ashraf Ali Thanvi says in the Bahishti Zewar: "To the extent possible, think of your husband’s wishes and always do what he desires. If he directs you to stay standing the whole night , it is for your good, both in this life and the life hereafter , that you bear some physical inconvenience to earn Allah’s grace. Never say anything which he does not like. If he says its night when its day you too must say the same.’’ Dulare Miyan dished out nuggets from the Bahishti Zewar  at great speed:’’ This is what the Shariah says and there you are going off to sleep without waiting for my return?

Shahenshah Bano raised her lowered head and looking at her Majaazi Khuda protested in a feeble voice, ‘"Is it a sin to doze off?’’ ‘’Of course not, it is me who is the sinner to have disturbed the sleep of Your Majesty, the Empress of Delhi ,’’ Dulare Miyan’s words stung her like a scorpion. What a cruel and merciless man Dulare Miyan was. There never was a day when she was a day when she was not taunted, pinched or pounced upon by him. She was reminded of the night when Dulare Miyan had pressed his double barrel gun to her chest. Their second son, then two-years-old, was running a very high temperature that day. Dulare Miyan had, as usual, returned home late at night.

Seeing the condition of his son, he growled, ‘’Why did you not send for me? Did you intend to kill him? The distraught Shahenshah Bano who was giving the child a cold sponge turned to her husband and said, ‘’Who could I have sent? Where? To Laqabai’s kotha?’’ On hearing her mention Laqabai’s name, Dulare Miyan exploded like a canon. He pulled out his gun, held it ever you utter that name again, I’ll blast your brains’’.

 
“The son of Abba Miyan’s  friend, a student of law then turned towards the humid and dingy room where she sat in silence. His menacing voice tore Shahenshah to pieces: ‘’I swear by Allah, Dhul Jalal (The Lord of Majesty), if after today I ever see a printed page or pen in your hands, I’ll make mince meat of your fingers and parcel them to your father.’’

The Behishati Zewar was pulled  out again that night and Dulare Miyan read out its teachings at the top of his voice: ‘’In Luknow, a women’s husband lives with a prostitute. He never comes home. On top of that, his concubine makes demands about the food she would like his wife to cook for them. But the poor wife never complains. She cook whatever her husband demand and send it to him without ever complaining. The entire world is full of praise for this women; and that is not to mention the great reward that await her in paradise.’’

Then, closing the book, Dulare Miyan had growled : "Have I ever stayed away the whole night? When have you ever cooked pulao or whatever for  Lakabai? Have I ever asked and have you ever prepared and sent food across? Listen, come out of your imperial delusion. Do you know , the status of a women is so low that the water leftover after her ablutions has been deemed unfit for bath or ablution by a men. We have been made superior to women , do you understand?’’

That’s when, for the first time, Shahenshah Bano become convinced that no formula has descended from heaven for the salvations, was to inform men how they can consign women to the lowest depth of hell in this world itself. 

From that night, an unknown, yet-to-born, women came to reside inside Shahenshah Bano’s body. When she prayed, the women inside would knock at her heart’s door and raise blasphemous questions: Is there a god for women, too? Does someone recognise us too as their creation?’’ Whenever the women residing inside her raised these questions, she would hurriedly curse the Satan, her head would stay glued to the ground for longer and longer periods in obeisance to Allah, the prayer mat would be soaked with tears. But the voice of that women within would not be silenced. It was as if she had taken permanent residence within her.

Concerned about her Abba Miyan’s standing and honour, she never complained to anyone. She was not permitted to visit her parents. In fact, she was prohibited from going anywhere. It was Hazrat Maulana’s view that women’s going out of home was the cause of many evils and it was therefore not proper for them to do so. In appendix ll, section Vll of Behashti Zewar, he had said that women should neither call anyone to their homes nor attend social ceremonies or rituals such as marriages, circumcision, engagements, rituals on birth or death of a person, etc.

When she got news of Amma's death, she was in Rampur awaiting the return of her Majaazi khuda from another city. She could not step out of home without his permission. By the time Dulare Miyan returned from Meerut, it was too late. Her husband was at home when she received news of her father's death. Shahenshah Bano responded with a deathly silence and said nothing. When Dulare Miyan mentioned the train she could take to Delhi, she looked at her Lord on earth. Forget being able to see his face Abba Miyan had died, his longing till the very end for a letter from his daughter unfulfilled. "What's the point of going now when I couldn't while he was unwell. He is bound to be buried before I can reach there." she said in a cold tone.

"Why? Do you intend to leave the house, shop and other property to your relations or what?" asked Dulare Miyan disapprovingly. "Which shariah tells you to let go of your share in property?" Is this man a human being or a butcher? Even a butcher offers water to the animal before he slaughters it. Forget any sorrow at Abba Miyan's death, this man had opened up the accounts section of the shariah even before Abba Miyan had been buried.

"Yes, how can one let go of one's share due according to the shariah?" she responded with a wry smile. "You are the only one I have ever seen smiling on the death of her own father," Dulare Miyan shot back and retreated to the men's quarter. The rush of memories brings Shahenshah Bano's heart leaping to her mouth. With tear-filled eyes she looks towards the courtyard. The moon has already set. She feels enveloped by a frightening darkness.

What all had she not been through living with Dulare Miyan. She was prohibited from wearing anything but coarse cotton. She loved perfumes from early childhood but was forbidden from using any after marriage. But for the fact that she wore coloured clothes, she looked a widow in every other respect.

Around the time the country was partitioned, her father-in-law passed away. A few months later, the mother-in-law also died. Shahenshah Bano heaved a sigh of relief. Things will now change for the better, she thought. She would be free to do what she liked, at least when Dulare Miyan was not at home. But happiness was not for her. Six months after the mother-in-laws expiry, her husband dropped another bomb – he had decided to take a second wife.

A few days later, the new bride arrived home. He arrival was preceded by major changes. Two new rooms were built on the terrace, the entire house acquired a new coat of paint. Shahenshah Bano learnt from the maidservants that the second wife was also from Delhi and a widow. She also had a four-year old son from the previous marriage. Dulare Miyan, the lawyer, had first set eyes on her in connection with some property dispute and fell in love soon thereafter. Once his parents were out of the way, there was nothing to stop him from marrying a second time.
Once the new bride arrived, Shahenshah Bano lost her empire which had extended from her own room to the kitchen Dulare Miyan entrusted the management of all domestic affairs in the hands of 'Raunaq Dulhan', his second wife. The same Dulare Miyan who only spat fire at Shahenshah Bano, showered Raunaq Dulhan with love, affection and gifts – sweetmeats, flowers, perfumes. kohl.

In the beginning, Raunaq Dulhan kept her distance from Shahenshah Bano but once she realized that the co-wife was a 'Shahenshah' only in name, she relaxed. The victor always treats the vanquished with mercy. Raunaq Dulhan started feeling sorry for Shahenshah Bano. Being a God-fearing women, she always tried to make up for Dulare Miyan's excesses against her. Had she behaved with her more like a rival, Shahenshah Bano would have felt less humiliated.

When her three sons grew up, two of them migrated to Pakistan while the third got a job in Shahjahanpur. He was married and lived with his wife. Back in Gheer Mulla Ghairat, Raunaq Dulhan's children were growing up. They called her Badi Amma and Shahenshah Bano found some distraction in their company. Raunaq Dulhan's son from her first marriage was particularly attached to her.

Shahenshah Bano recalls that afternoon when Dulare Miyan arrived home in a foul mood having lost the case for her wife's property. After Abba Miyan's death, he had filed a case against Shahenshah Bano's two cousins. In his own lifetime, Abba Miyan had given a house to his two nephews but Dulare Miyan sensed a fraud. He kept up his legal battle – session court, high court, now even the supreme court had ruled in favour of his cousin brothers-in-law.

Shahenshah Bano silently listened to all the verbal barrage Dulare Miyan had let loose against her two cousins whom she had not seen in the last 40 years He husband was of the view that leave alone meeting them, the Shariah did not permit her from even seeing their face or be seen by them.
Abba Miyan had left a lot of property behind for Shahenshah Bano but she had no access to any of it. Dulare Miyan swallowed everything – house, shop, money. Let alone her having any right on what her father had left behind for his daughter, Dulare Miyan made sure that even the jewellery she had received as dowry were gifted away to the daughters-in-law when their sons got married.

Bitter memories of her dispossession through the years flashed through her mind. When she couldn’t take Dulare Miyan's continuing bad-mouthing against her cousins any longer, she suddenly screamed back. "Enough, please stop." "Why should I stay quiet? You have been denied what was your right according to the Shariah. The Hindus are now the rulers, they do what they please. Islamic laws are no longer followed, nor is there a rule of law any longer." Dulare Miyan shot back. Following Partition, he had begun to take interest in Muslim politics. He had even succeeded in becoming a small-time politician. His statements on Muslim Personal Law and on the question of Muslim identity were often published in local Urdu papers.

"Abba Miyan had given away this house to his nephews during his lifetime. Whatever was left after his death was swallowed by you. So where is the question of my right having been denied?" a peeved Shahenshah Bano demanded. Her response hit Dulare Miyan like a bullet. "A word more and I will pull off your tongue. I have lost my thousands in the case but your heart is bleeding for those men. It’s my fault that I did not have everything spelt out in black and white while your father was still alive. Even while dying, he proved what a crooked man he was."

Shahenshah Bano felt as if a thousand canons had been fired at her at the same time. Such words of Abba Miyan, a gentleman to the core? It was fear of sullying his fair name she had kept silent, never complained for 40 years. "Are you out of your mind. Mustafa Ali Khan? Do you know what you are saying and to whom?" Shahenshah Bano looked straight into the eyes of her husband. For the first time in her life, the sound of her voice had traveled beyond the confines of her own room to the courtyard.

Such unprecedented defiance took Dulare Miyan completely by surprise. "Yes, yes I am talking about your father" he was beyond himself, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. Shahenshah Bano, too, saw red, the fire dormant within her for years erupted: "Where is your Shariah now, speaking ill of a man to whom you are so deeply obligated?" As if someone had pumped a few bullets into Dulare Miyan's chest. "Me obligated to your father?" he yelled.

"Yes, you are obligated to my father… all his property and his money, who has swallowed it all? Who blew it up living a debauched life?" Shahenshah Bano was determined to settle scores of the last 40 years there and then. "After his death all his property was yours by right", Dulare Miyan retorted as he sent a stool flying with a kick.

"In that case, you are obligated to me, so beware what you say about my father", Shahenshah Bano heard herself say, She could not believe she could be talking like this.  Dulare Miyan turned while with rage. A woman, as worthy as his footwear, mindless, inferior to men, the water left by whom is prohibited to a man for ablution… A woman trying to tell him he is obligated to her. For a few moments he stood there speechless. Then, with hate-filled eyes he looked at the woman whose Majaazi Khuda he was.

"Shahenshah Bano, you will regret this moment for ever", he said in a venomous voice and stormed out of the room. She remained frozen where she was. She could not believe that it was her own voice that had been raised, that it was she herself who had taunted her Lord. She stayed where she was, her mind a complete blank, bitter memories of four decades flashing through her mind.

Before dusk that very evening, hell broke loose. Shahenshah Bano was sipping a cup of tea in the verandah when she saw her husband take rapid strides towards her room. He emerged a few moments later dragging with him her trunk of clothes.

‘’Pick up your things and get out of this house’’, he thundered. Shahenshah Bano put her cup aside and looked at him in astonishment. She could not understand what he was talking about. ‘’Where could I go?’’

‘’To hell, as far as I am concerned’’.

On hearing her husband’s outburst. Raunaq Dulhan came charging out of the kitchen. That very moment. Shahenshah Bano’s paandan was sent flying to the courtyard, its contents scattering over.  "For Allah's sake, what are you doing", cried Raunaq Dulhan, taking rapid strides towards her husband. ‘’You stay quiet, Raunaq Dulhan, I do not want to hear a word in favour of this accursed women'’ Dulare Miyan screamed back in anger. 

“Oh God! Why are you fouling your own mouth’’, said Raunaq Dulhan pained by the abuses being hurled at Shahenshah Bano. Terrified, the children stood cowering. The maid too came out of the kitchen, Raunaq Dulhan pleaded with her husband, asked for mercy in the name of Allah and the Prophet But Dulare Miyan was categorical that there was no place in his home for the disobedient and troublesome woman.

As she sits thinking of that evening, a cold shiver runs through the ageing Shahenshah Bano’s bones.  She had found no support either from the heavens above or from the good earth below. As she started walking towards the door, she had a dizzy spell and was about to collapse when Shakeel, Raunaq Dulhan’s son from marriage ran to gather her in his arms.

‘’Don’t worry Badi Amma , I will come with you, I will take you to the house of Bada Bhaiyya in Shahjehanpur’’, he said as tears rolled down his cheeks. Shahenshah Bano was oblivious to what was happening to her, what was going to happen. She felt enveloped by an all-pervading darkness.
That evening of her misfortune when Shakeel picked her up and put her in a rickshaw covered by a chador, a tin trunk with clothes, a pillow wrapped in a rug, a tumbler, a water jug and a paandan whose lid had been broken when flung by Dulare Miyan _ these constituted the sum total of her worldly possession. She could not help recalling the dowry which 40 years ago she had brought along with her to fill the house of Mustafa Ali Khan.

From that night, an unknown, yet-to-born, women came to reside inside Shahenshah Bano’s body. When she prayed, the women inside would knock at her heart’s door and raise blasphemous questions: Is there a god for women, too? Does someone recognise us too as their creation?’’ Whenever the women residing inside her raised these questions, she would hurriedly curse the Satan, her head would stay glued to the ground for longer and longer periods in obeisance to Allah, the prayer mat would be soaked with tears.

From an opening in the chador, in the dim-light cast by the electric lamppost, she cast a last glance at the half-open door of that house in Gheer Mulla Ghairat where Raunak Dulhan stood slouched against the door frame, tears welling her eyes. She prayed for her from every pore of her being, Raunaq Dulhan it was who had stealthily slipped two hundred rupees in her hands as she was leaving the house. It was her son Shakeel who had been kicked and abused by his step-father without complaining and never for a moment flinching in his loyalty to Shahenshah Bano.

As she departed from Gheer Mulla Ghairat amidst the sobs of Raunaq Dulhan and the beggar Madan Faqir’s call for alms, she was reminded of the time when she had first left her natal home. Shahenshah Bano had sobbed uncontrollably.

How radically her life was transformed after leaving Dulare Miyan’s house. For the last two years she had stayed at her elder son’s home. The two sons who had migrated to Pakistan never bothered to ask how their mother was. For sometime she commiserated about their lack of concern for her but then sought solace in the thought that before migrating those who abandon their motherland squeeze out and leave behind every trace of filial affinity from their blood : were they to carry these associations with them, emotional burden may  prove to be unbearable. Thankfully, the eldest son in Shahjehanpur took care of her in her old age. His wife too was not bad. But she was tired of Shahenshah Bano’s untiring quest for justice.

Despite the discouragement of her son, she had called her cousin from Delhi whom she had not seen for 40 years. After several months of deliberations, a case for main tenance was filed. The case lasted for one and a half years. Before the court verdict, she received the first and the last letter from Dulare Miyan. ‘’Mrs. Shahenshah Bano’’ was intimated through this letter that she had been given triple talaq and is thus no longer the wife of Musafa Ali Khan. The letter added that her mehr amount of 3,000coins in current currency had already been deposited in the court after which she had no further claims from her former husband.

After receiving the divorce letter at the age of 62, getting her due from Mustafa Ali Khan became the sole purpose of Shahenshah Bano’s life. The case in court proved to be unending. A lower court ruled that Mustafa Ali Khan must pay a monthly sum of Rs. 25 to her as maintenance. Two years….four years…the matter finally reached court ruled that she be paid Rs. 79 and 20 paise monthly as maintenance for the rest of her life.

Mustafa Ali Khan filed an appeal against this ruling of the apex court. His contention was that according to the Shariah, a divorced woman is not entitled to any maintenance beyond the iddat period . The secular Indian law, on the other hand, stipulated that a divorced wife is entitled to maintenance until she remarries.

A shiver runs through Shahenshah Bano.

The several years long legal battle between her and Dulare Miyan had got transformed into a battle between Islam and kufr. Ranged on one side was her frail existence, on the other side stood millions of Mujahids of Islam. Hate, contempt, condemnations….life became hell for her. lll-informed youngster were brainwashed and despatched to raise slogans before her house.

The walls of her son’s house had been plastered with Fatwa posters. Her son and daughter-in-law were fed up of the legal acrimony and condemnations following it. She was attacked by the ulema and grand muftis from inside mosques throughout in Islam… it is a question of the sanctity of faith… an apostate and non-be-living old hag has thrown a challenge to Islam.’’ Something which she was prohibited read papers like Islamic Voice, call of Islam and learn from these newspaper that she had abandoned her faith, sold out to idolaters, become an enemy of Islam She would read all these and shed tears of blood.

Then started the processions against her…Five thousand, one lakh. The rising tide of the ummah was over whelming. Islam was in danger because of a 70-years-old helpless old women.

After moving to her son’s home, her sole preoccupation was reading books, periodicals and newspapers,

Pressures began to be mounted to her. She should relinquish her claim. Apply to the court for withdrawing her case. Lose the battle she had already won. But she stayed firm. Not for herself or for that meager sum which the court had directed to be paid to her as maintenance. Her battle was on behalf of all Muslim women and Muslim girls.

The homes of poor Muslims in India had been turned into bazaars for Arab harems. Year after year they would change cars, and women. With her failing eyes she had read innumerable accounts of exploited, Pune, Bombay, and Delhi who for a few thousand rupees in mehr become brides of week and then, talaqnama in hand and a new born in their arms, entered the flesh market.

How could men, who for a few thousand rupees could every so often acquire new girls to exploit, tolerate the challenge thrown by her? what if tomorrow their own divorced wives started demanding maintenance from them? Marring someone and then divorcing at will was their right and any interference in this male privilege meant an attack on Islam. So, for the protection of religion, Shahenshah Bano was condemned from the pulpit inside mosques and through newspapers.  Writings, speeches fatwas smear campaigns….Brothers in Islam. Islam is in danger!

Ppressure kept mounting on her from Fatwa peddlers, from the Muslim community, from her own son and daughter-in-law, and for the last few hours, of the tumultuous crowd of the soldiers of Islam who after the Friday prayers. Had entered her mohalla. With cries of ‘’Allah-o-Akbar’’ the crowed assembled on the street outside her home and on street nearby. A hail of stones fell at the entrance door and in the courtyard. In the verandah some stones fell close to the platform on which she said her namaaz. And, then, the attempt to break down the entrance door.

Helplessly, her son cast a glance at her and then at his two daughter who were trembling and clinging to each other. ‘’Amma, would you have this house reduced to rubble?  ‘’We are ready to die, ready to face slaughter….We are ready to face slaughter…We are ready to perish for the sake of Islam’’ The walls were shaking with the cacophony of voices. She was sitting on the prayer platform in the verandah. It was time for the asir[evening] prayers. She looked up towards the sky. It was not on her side. She looked down at the ground, that too was not on her side. She looked down at the ground, that too was not with her. She prostates herself before Allah.

‘’We are ready to die, ready to face slaughter’’. Like deadly weapons, words were cutting her to pieces. She was getting crushed by the onslaught of fatwas. Her was getting soaked with tears. The hail of stones intensified. The hail of stones door was deafening.

She was lying prostrate before her Allah when she heard the anguished scream of her granddaughter. ‘’Dadi maan. They will cut us to pieces’’, In her terrified voice there was not only the fear of death but worse. This was not the cry of her grand daughter but of women from time immemorial….Women, the war booty in every period of history…But these were our own people? The episode of Hurra rose from the pages of history and sank in her tear-filled eyes.

She got up from her namaaz with a shiver. ‘’Open the door… Bring to me the people who wish to talk to me’’.

The door opened and in no time the entire courtyard overflowed with believers. What an impressive assembly of highly respected ulema and grand muftis around her! Attired in back coats, perfumed and with hennaed beards, eyes lined with kohl, Rampuri caps on their heads….
She cast a gland on the sheet of paper on which her signature could end that jihad between kufr and Islam which had shaken the entire country to its foundation. By signing on the dotted line in front of this assembly of Muslims, she would relinquish set up by idolaters had given to her.

Ameer-e-shariat, Maulana Sibgat Ullah Naumani, pulled out the Parker pen from his coat pocket and handed it over to her. This was the same man who had made life hell for his own wife. Penniless, she had been begging around for survival for the last nine years. Her own petition for maintenance was also pending in the courts. Ignoring the hand stretched towards her, she turned to her grandson who clung to her shoulder and the trembling of whose finger she could feel in her bones.

‘’Beta get me the kohl from the shelf ‘’.

No one understood what she was up to while the grandson fetched the kohl on her right thumb, her son rushed forward ‘’Amma , why are putting your thumb impression? Why don’t you sign?’’

‘’Signing is the way of idolatrous women, our women should only use thumb impressions’’, she said and put her thumb to paper.

The Ameer-e-shariat took the paper from her hands, the stood up, turned towards the surging crowd, waved the paper which carried Shahenshah Bano’s thumb impression and loudly proclaimed : ‘’Allah –o-Akbar’’ the crowed melted away.

The courtyard of her house which a few hours ago had resembled a battle field is now bereft of human presence but the feel as if the battle-caries of her assaulters are still lounging at her like bats, crashing against the walls.

The Moon has set, it is nearing the break of dawn. ‘’you won Mustafa Ali Khan. My name has been turned into an abuse by your community. My tear-soaked prayers, all my fast during Ramzaan and at other times which gave me swollen knees and ankle bones…. No one bothered about that while declaring me an enemy of Islam and calling me a Kafir,. There were even calls for stoning me to death while you a regular in the red-light area, were treated white as milk. You became a leader, a follower of faith, a distinguished servant of the community.

I, a hapless old women, thought that when others have given me justice, how could my own people be unfair to me. But it was you who was destined to win. Your people who have never been able to defence of their dying language (urdu), what have they not put me- a helpless, hapless old women — through. For me, an old woman behind veils, a whole army of the soldiers of Islam…It is evident now that none is on my side, none.

The cold is biting into her bones. She tries to lift her trembling right hand to examine her thumb. Her thumb impression on that light green paper swims before her eyes. You and your people, Mustafa Ali Khan, will not be able to remove this blot even with your blood.
Like stones, a hail of fatwas are drawing her blood. She is trying desperately to run for cover…gasping, stumbling, gathering her strength again.

‘’Abba Miyan’’, she cries, ‘’Had you been alive, on which side would you have been Abba Miyyan? With the community or with me? She is sobbing uncontrollably. She searches for some warmth in the tattered old quilt she is covered with but to no avail.
She tries raising her head from the pillow for a glimpse of the dying moonlight but her head feels as heavy as lead. Abba Miyan calls her from behind. She tries to get up to great him but there is no strength left in her body. Abba Miyan comes forward and hold her hand. She somehow picks herself up and remember she has to ask him something:’’ In this battle, Abba Miyan, on whose side were you,?

She turns to him, full of hope. Abba Miyan lowers his head. A silence that stretches from heaven to earth sweeps away Shahenshah Bano in its tide. 

(From Zahida Hena’s collection of short stories, Raah Mein Ajal Hai (Death on the streets), published by Danial Publishers, Karachi. Translated from Urdu by Javed Anand; archived from the May 1997 issue of Communalism Combat where it appeared as the cover story)

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