The women’s wing of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH) in Kerala has lambasted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling BJP party for shedding crocodile tears for a few Muslim women suffered by Muthalaq (pronouncement of three-time divorces in one go), saying it would not allow Modi and his party to exploit this minor issue to make political gains and defame Shari’ah.
“Where were Modi and BJP when Muslim women were raped and their men and children were slaughtered during Gujarat riots? Where were they when hundreds of young Muslim men were arrested and put behind bars with false charges against them? Where were they when the Sangh Parivar killed a number of Muslims and Dalits for allegedly consuming beef?” asked A. Rahmathunnisa, president of the women’s wing, while addressing a mammoth seminar at Malappuram on 30 April.
Thousands of women from all over the south Indian state attended the seminar, which was organised by JIH as part of a nationwide campaign to safeguard Shari’ah and enlighten Muslims about the Islamic law. V.T. Abdullah Koya Thangal, assistant president of Jamaat in Kerala opened the event and urged Muslims across the country to uphold Shari’ah and practise its teachings in their daily life.
Rahmathunnisa, who presided over the seminar, said the NDA government wanted to defame Shari’ah and introduce uniform civil code by urging Muslim women to stand against Muthalaq. “Everybody knows that Muthalaq is against the text and spirit of the Qur’ān and Sunnah (the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be to him) and we are totally against Muthalaq,” she said, adding that only few number of such divorce cases have occurred in the whole of India.
The women’s wing president described Islam as the complete way life designed by God Almighty, the creator of the whole humanity who knows human nature and requirements. “Islamic teachings are relevant for all times and nations. It’s not an anti-women or pro-men system. It’s the most reformed universal religion,” she added.
She said the Muslim Personal Law in India, which covers only a part of Shari’ah, was instrumental in bringing about reforms to personal laws of other religious communities in the country. “Shariah protects freedom, equality and gender justice and we the Muslim men and women of India demand the application of the Muslim Personal Law,” she added. The uniform code is not practical in a country like India, which has embraced people of different religious faiths and cultures.
Rahmathunnisa called upon Muslim women to bring up their families under the shade of Islamic teachings, setting a good example for other communities to follow. She urged Mohalla administrators to strictly apply Shari’ah rules in marriage and divorce cases to ensure justice.
In his inaugural address, Thangal censured politicians, intellectuals and lawyers for attacking the divine law of Shari’ah, which is derived from the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah.