“And for those women, of whom you fear their dissent (نُشُوزَهُنَّ), exhort them, abandon them in their beds, and beat them.  But if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Surely God is Sublime, Great” (Qur’an 4: 34).

There is a common misunderstanding that one particular Qur’anic verse perpetuates violence against women.  Image: AAP/Lukas Coch

So, the Islam-critics argue that the Qur’an permits spousal abuse and so, Islam is misogynic. Their pretention appears reasonable if the verse is read in a vacuum disconnected with rest of the Qur’an. We, Muslims, must ask “Does anyone know a woman who spot ‘beauty and dignity’ in spousal brutality?”  Probably, Women suffering from the abnormal mental condition called masochism may find “beauty and dignity” in it.  There is no way to unmask the “beauty or dignity” in the jurists’ license of spousal abuse hinging on the verse.  There is not one incident in the life of Prophet (s) when he beat or treated disrespectfully any of his wives.  And if the Muslim’s claim of Islam being a liberator of women ought to be valid, Muslims must reject the jurists’ sanction of shameful act of wife beating by husbands.

To understand the verse 4:34 we must focus on the context and what is being addressed to know its meaning.  With respect to context, there is no unanimity among the exegetes of the Qur’an.

Some commentators say this verse was revealed when Saudah (d. 54/674) Prophet’s (s) wife feared that the Prophet (s) would divorce her and so she relinquished some of her rights so that he would not divorce her.

But this report is incorrect, for how can these commentators know what was in her heart?  Further, Allah gave the Prophet’s (s) wives the right to choose him.

Other commentators say that this verse was revealed when a husband and wife constantly fought over the husband’s second marriage. 

Therefore, due to lack of unanimity among exegetes, we cannot get the true meaning of the verse from the reported context of revelation.  Only thing that the jurists agree upon is that this verse means that a form of reconciliation between husband and wife is better than a separation. [Ref: Conference of the Books by Khalid M. Abou El Fadl].

The jurists have stated that Arabic word “NUSHUZ (نُشُوزَ)” in the Qur’an means “arrogance and defiance,” and a NASHIZ is an “arrogant and disobedient person.”  Some jurists such as Ibn Rush (d. 520/1126) said that a NASHIZ is a deviant woman who refuses to pray, fast, or cleanse herself from impurities.  But the word NUSHUZ is also used to describe men, Allah says:

وَإِنِ امْرَأَةٌ خَافَتْ مِنْ بَعْلِهَا نُشُوزًا أَوْ إِعْرَاضًا فَلَا جُنَاحَ عَلَيْهِمَا أَنْ يُصْلِحَا بَيْنَهُمَا صُلْحًا ۚ وَالصُّلْحُ خَيْرٌ ۗ وَأُحْضِرَتِ الْأَنْفُسُ الشُّحَّ ۚ وَإِنْ تُحْسِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ كَانَ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرًا

“And if a woman fears abstention or aversion [NUSHUZ] on the part of her husband, then it is no sin on both that they amend things between them, for right settlement is better…” (Qur’an 4:128). Bearing in mind of the jurists’ definition of NASHIZ into “arrogant and disobedient person, we need to ask, “Does NASHUZ in the verse mean the disobedience of a husband to his wife? Does it also mean that a husband owes a duty of obedience to his wife?” The jurists troubled by this tension said that NUSHUZ (نُشُوزَ _) in the case of a wife means disobedience, and in the case of a husband means a grave and known sin (فَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ).  Why are they giving different meanings to the same word in similar situations?  Does this mean that NUSHUZ in the case of a wife means a grave sin as well? These are very valid questions to ask.

It is reported that the Prophet (s) in his final pilgrimage said, “O people, I command you to treat women with kindness for they are your support.  You have no other rights over them unless they are committing a grave and known sin (فَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ).  If they do abandon them in beds, and beat them lightly, but if they comply, do not transgress against them” Professor Khalid M. Abou El Fadl of Stanford University states: “It seems to me that the Prophet (s) uses the expression فَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ as the equivalent of NUSHUZ ( نُشُوزَ _), and that NUSHUZ  ( نُشُوزَ _) means  فَاحِشَةٍ مُبَيِّنَةٍ  (a grave and known sin).” [Ref: Conference of the Books by Khalid M. Abou El Fadl].  If that is so, NUSHUZ cannot mean “disobedience or a case of simple disagreement,” but means lewd acts.

There are many reasons to reject the jurists’ authorization to beat their wives by husbands at will.  These are some of them. An ideal God-conscious Muslim husband must know the Qur’anic description of human nature (Qur’an 2:128): “…But men keeps self-interest utmost.  Yet if you do good fear God, God is cognizant of all that you do.”) that could potentially steer him away from justice. God demands:

“O you who believe!  Be you maintainers of your pact with Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and let not the hatred of others to you make you swerve to wrong and depart from justice.  Be just: that is nearer to Duty: and fear Allah.  For Allah is well acquainted with what you do.” [Qur’an 5:9]. 

“Oh you who believe!  Stand out firmly for justice, as witnesses to God, even as against yourselves, or your parents, or your kin, and whether it be against rich or poor; for God can best protect both.  Follow not the lusts of your hearts, let you swerve, and if you distort justice or decline to do justice, verily God is well acquainted with all that that you do…” (4:135).

Therefore, men in a state of resentment cannot be a judge and be fair and just especially over perceived NUSHUZ (lewd act) by their wives. Moreover, Prophet (s) said:

“The judge should not judge between two people while he is angry.” (Source: Sunan At-Tirmidhi 1334);
“You will not find the men who beat their wives as good one among you.’ (Abu Daus: Sunan Vol 1, page 292);
 “The best of you is he who is best to his wife.”  (Ibn Majah: Sunan Bab Husn Ma’ashrat al-Nisa, page 142).

Therefore, The All-knowing and the Most Compassionate would not have decreed the right to punish his wife for Nushuz (lewd act) in the hands of an angry husband. Therefore, the trial, conviction, and nature of punishment for Nushuz (نُشُوزَ _) rest with a jury or judge, not with the husbands.

While the matter is in the court of law, both spouses are expected to lay out evidences and bring witnesses to support their side of defence:

“And those who accuse the women in wedlock and do not bring four witnesses, flog them, therefore, eighty stripes, and never accept any testimony from them, for those, they are miscreants; …And those who accuse their wives, but have no witnesses except themselves, let each of these [accusers] call God four times to witness that he is indeed telling the truth, and the fifth time, that God’s curse be upon him if he is telling a lie. But [as for the wife, all] chastisement shall be averted from her by her calling God four times to witness that he is indeed telling lie and the fifth [time], that God’s curse be upon her if he is telling the truth.” [24:4-9].

According to these verses, accusing Nushuz (lewd act) is a grave matter and the accuser is bound by the law to present four eyewitnesses to prove his/her case. A circumstantial evidence alone is not enough. If there are no eyewitnesses, four solemn affirmations calling the name of God by the husband is accepted if the wife refuses to take an oath to the contrary. And the husband’s testimony is not accepted if the wife denies the accusation of her husband after taking the oath calling the name of God. In other words, she disproves him if she solemnly set her word against his.

In this legal procedure, which is called li’an (“oath of condemnation”), leave the question of guilt legally undecided; both parties are absolved of all the legal consequences.

Following the conviction for Nushuz ( نُشُوزَ _), whether committed by husband (Qur’an 4:128) or wife (Qur’an 4: 34), the punishment is same for both sexes.  From the God’s perspective, sexes do not matter but only deeds are crucial and counted.  The justice, reward, and retribution are equitably served on male and female:

“Whoever does righteousness, whether male or female, while he is a believer – We will surely cause him to live a good life, and We will surely give them their reward [in the Hereafter] according to the best of what they used to do. (Qur’an 16:97);
“And their Lord has responded them thus: Verily! I waste not the deeds of any worker, male or female, to be lost. You are all on the same footing.” (Qur’an 3:195).”
 … (such is) the artistry of Allah, who disposes of all things in perfect order…” (Quran 27;88).

God’s ways are perfect and so human is expected to emulate Him in administering justice without favouring one sex over the other.

Finally, Judge may rule for a graded punishment of “advising her/him” at first for self-correction, and then if that does not work “leave her/him in bed.” The Qur’anic wisdom aims at harmonious reconciliation:
 “It is no sin for two of them if they make peaceful settlement; and peace is an excellent thing…” [Qur’an 4:128].

 If these methods do not work in the case of a refractory wife or husband, the judge may impose corporeal punishment as the last resort. Even in that case, the beating of wife/husband for lewdness is symbolic or nominal type. It should be “striking without injury or pain” [Ref: Ibn Majah: Sunan, page 133. Muslim: Sahih, Vol. I, page 291] If such symbolic striking does not correct and the husband/wife cannot fulfil the Qur’anic teaching:
 “…And (O Believers) live with them (i.e., wives) on a footing of kindness and equality…,” the husband cannot remain legally wedded.

The Qur’an recommends:
 “Either take back on equitable terms or set them free on equitable terms, do not take back to injure them or take unfair advantage…” [Qur’an 2:231].
In summary, husbands cannot be the accuser, judge, and executioner in the matter of Nushuz of the wives.  A Jury or judge determines the matter of the truth. If admonition, leaving in bed alone, symbolic striking, or reconciliation in equitable term does not work, the righteous action of the husband and wife is to divorce on equitable terms. Unlike the Jurists’ misogynic interpretation of the verse 4:34, I witness the “beauty and dignity” in my reading the Divine Revelation.  Moreover, it is internally consistent without contradicting the meaning of any verses of the Qur’an.

T.O. Shanavas is a native of Kerala, India and is now based in the USA. He is the author of “Islamic Theory of evolution of Evolution the Missing Link between Darwin and The Origin of Species.” Co-author of the book, And God Said, “Let There Be Evolution!” Reconciling the Book of Genesis, The Qur’an, And the Theory of Evolution. Edited by Prof. Charles M. Wynn and Prof. Arthur W. Wiggins.

Courtesy: New Age Islam

The post Muslim Jurists Are Wrong, Husbands Cannot Beat Wives appeared first on SabrangIndia.

The campaign to enlighten Muslims on Shariah laws is to be launched from Lucknow. Letters in this regard have already been sent out to the imams of every mosque in UP state’s capital.

The Urdu daily Rashtriya Sahara has quoted Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahal, a Board member and imam of the Aishbagh Eidgah, as saying that the Board is of the view that Islamic Shariah is being misused on a large scale. The proposed weekly sermons, he believed, would go a long way in addressing this problem. He added that such Friday sermons will be delivered from mosques all over India.   

Citing 2011 statistics the maulana claimed that the incidence of divorce among Muslims as percentage of its total population was way below the comparative figure among Hindus. He also maintained that only a small percentage of divorce among Muslims is through resort to the triple talaq practice.
 

The post Triple Talaq: Imams across India to give Sermons on Muslim Women’s Rights Every Friday appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Even as the Muslim Personal Law Board continues with an archaic, rigid and untenable view on triple talaq,  Sabrangindia reproduces an article by legal expert and jurist Tahir Mahmood that exposes the argument

Image: AFP

“The Supreme Court cannot test the validity of Muslim law on the touchstone of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution since it is not a State-made law.” This is what former Chief Justice Aziz Ahmadi’s lawyer-son Huzefa Ahmadi has reportedly told the court the other day. The constitutional tenability of his contention needs to be examined in its proper perspective.
 
In October 2015 a Supreme Court Bench was hearing arguments in the case of Prakash v Phulwati in which gender discrimination under the Hindu Succession Act 1956 had been challenged for its constitutional validity. As the lawyer opposing the challenge argued that similar discriminations under Muslim law had been allowed by the courts to stay, the Bench directed that a PIL be registered suo motu for the consideration of that matter by an appropriate bench to be constituted by the Chief Justice.
 
In a bid to preempt any further proceeding in the matter, the Maharashtra unit of the Jamiat-ul-Ulama has now filed a petition in the court arguing that non-statutory Muslim law is outside the ambit of fundamental rights. Huzefa has made the contention referred to above as the petitioner’s lawyer.       
 
In Part III of the Constitution guaranteeing fundamental rights Article 13 says that any past or future law made by the State, as also any custom and usage, going against its provisions would be void. As it does not specifically mention personal laws, there has been a controversy whether this prefatory declaration in Part III covers also the personal laws [which are claimed to be something different from custom and usage].

All religious communities in India are governed by their respective personal laws which, with the sole exception of Muslim law, are now found in legislative enactments.  While these codified personal laws can be seen as State-made laws, for the uncodified Muslim law it is claimed by the community leaders that not being a “State-made law” it is beyond the scope of Part III.

The contention is clearly erroneous. The uncodified Muslim law is in force in India not as part of Muslim religion [as Muslim religious leaders presume] but because of its recognition by state legislation, mainly the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937. Particular chapters of Muslim law are protected by specific provisions of several other statutes – law of gifts by the Transfer of Property Act 1882, of wills by the Indian Succession Act 1925 of dower by the Dowry Prohibition Act 1961, and so on.

Jurisprudentially, no difference can be made between a personal law incorporated in some legislative enactments and another applied by the courts under the authority conferred by some other legislative enactments.

Even if it is presumed that personal laws are covered by the fundamental right to religious freedom under Article 25 of the Constitution, that Article itself emphatically says that this right will not prevent the State from introducing social reforms. In any case the Constitution does not exempt any personal law from the legislative powers of the State – on the contrary it specifically puts all personal law matters, without exempting any community, within the competence of Parliament and state legislatures [Schedule VII, List III, entry 5].  Further, all personal laws are administered in the country by State courts and nothing in the Constitution exempts any of them from the higher courts’ power of judicial review.

I am not saying that Muslim law should not be retained in force and  have always loudly said that the State cannot repeal Muslim law without first repealing the four Hindu law Acts enacted by Parliament in 1955-56 [ignoring the civil laws of marriage and succession which were already available as a secular option].  My stand that if the personal law system is to be abandoned in favour of a common law the lead must come from the majority community was cited in the Shah Bano case (1985) with a rider “lead or no lead the State must act.”

The Muslim law claimed to be of “divine” origin is practised in India in an awfully distorted way going in a direction diametrically opposed to clear teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet who was indeed one of the greatest social reformers in human history.

Disagreeing with it, I maintain my considered opinion that repealing the traditional Muslim law while retaining the modern Hindu law – which also, like the former, is replete with religious and gender discriminations — will be repugnant to the Constitution.    

The Muslim law claimed to be of “divine” origin is practised in India in an awfully distorted way going in a direction diametrically opposed to clear teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet who was indeed one of the greatest social reformers in human history. For sixty-eight years since independence religious leaders have succeeded in preventing any legislative reform. In the absence of any corrective legislation the apex court of the country has cautiously tried to retrieve the original principles of Muslim law and apply them in their true letter and spirit. Religious leaders always deprecate such rulings too, sometimes in words bordering on contempt of court. 

Those who claim immunity for Muslim personal law from the jurisdiction of the country’s apex court must read the writing on the wall and let it remain in force as a matter of state policy, without questioning its judicial interpretations. Invoking the Constitution for its protection is an utterly unwise move which may prove fatal for its continuation in force.  

(The writer is Professor of Eminence & Honorary Chairman, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Amity University, former Chairman, National Minorities Commission, former Member, National Human Rights Commission and the Law Commission of India)
 

The post Invoking the Constitution to Save Muslim Law Unwise and Erroneous appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 

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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