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Muslim women at god's mercy for justice

Muslim women at god's mercy for justice

Author: Sharat Pradhan, Indo-Asian News Service
Publication: Yahoo News
Date: February 4, 2003
URL: http://in.news.yahoo.com/030204/43/20rw6.html

Harassed and tortured for dowry, thousands of poor Indian Muslim women have nowhere left to turn if their greedy husbands and in-laws refuse to abide by the ruling of Islamic courts.

With neither the resources nor the will to pursue dragging cases in courts of law, these hapless women feel they are at god's mercy for justice.

Waiting outside an Islamic court at one corner of the Nadwatul Ulema, an acclaimed centre for Islamic studies in this Uttar Pradesh capital, a frail Shakila moaned: "I have been contesting this case for two years.

"My husband was directed to keep me with him, but he neither allows me to live with him nor is he willing to divorce me," 22-year-old Shakila told IANS.

Another young woman, Rehana, approached the same court with a complaint of harassment by her husband and in-laws over dowry.

"Despite the court's repeated summons, my husband has not cared to even appear before the qazi (Islamic court judge)," Rehana said. "I don't have the money to hire a lawyer and go to a civil court. Where do I go from here? I am at god's mercy."

Islamic courts that enforce Muslim personal law -- even though their verdicts are not binding -- have largely failed to deliver justice to hundreds of women who have been victims of mental and physical torture at the hands of their dowry-greedy husbands and in-laws.

Such courts were set up across the country -- three in Uttar Pradesh -- as thousands of Muslims were up in arms against a court order in the 1980s for maintenance to a woman called Shah Bano who had separated from her husband.

Many in the community saw it as an infringement on Muslim personal law and strong protests prompted the then central government to overturn the court verdict through a constitution amendment.

Maulana Badruddin Sambhli, Lucknow's Shariat qazi or Islamic court judge, frankly admitted: "There is no way we can ensure enforcement of the Shariat. We have to depend solely on the fear of god in the minds of those who are expected to follow the Shariat court's verdict."

Little wonder then that not many opt for these courts. The Lucknow court has received only 500 cases since 1986 when it was set up.

"We have no machinery to get feedback on whether our decision has been implemented or not," confessed the court's administrative officer Mohammad Mustaqeem.

While most cases coming to the Shariat court relate to husband-wife disputes, largely on account of dowry, occasionally property disputes also land there.

Most applicants seeking justice before the Shariat courts are poor, with no money or determination to take their battle to the judiciary.

"Yes, only people who cannot afford a lawyer come to us because we do not permit lawyers," said Mustaqeem. "We expect people to be god-fearing and to understand that disobedience of the Shariat would invite the almighty's wrath."

About 140 million Muslims form the biggest religious minority in Hindu-dominated India. Some parties have made the existence of separate Muslim personal law a political issue and have been campaigning for a uniform civil code for all religions.
 


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