Disadvantages of being Muslim women LUCKNOW: M R Syeda Hameed's report on the status of Muslim women in India, entitled ``Voice of the Voiceless'', is a bold initiative, documentating in no uncertain terms the double disadvantage of being women and Muslim in India. As member of the National Commission for Women, Dr Hameed conducted public hearings from Kerala to Kashmir, Calcutta to Surat. Everywhere, it was the same story, as women spoke of community objections to sending girls to school after puberty, the dangling threat of triple talaaq, zero maintenance, multiple marriage and absence of child support. The greatest fear for Muslim women is the triple talaaq axe. Sometimes, says the report, it is uttered in rage and irresponsibility, in a single breath, ruining the lives of the women and children forever because they have no recourse for maintenance. The document obliquely touches the sensitive question of Mulsim Personal Law. It shows clearly how Indian Muslim women in particular are legally disadvantaged as compared to Mulsim women in other countries. In Turkey, the traditional Muslim law has been replaced by a modern civil code, and even in countries like Iran men and women have similar rights of divorce. Indonesia and Malaysia have abolished polygamy and there is an express or implied abolition of the so-called triple talaaq. In India, a man can keep four wives, divorce his wife whenever he wants without assigning reason, even in her absence. If the husband cannot pay maintenance the responsibility devolves to Waqf Boards, which are penurious. There is no child support either. All this is attributed to doctrinnaire, patriarchal interpretations of the Shariat, because it is not codified. There are however pockets of light. Chennai for instance has a strong Muslim women's reform movement. In Vijaywada Muslim women have been praying in mosques for over 50 years. There have been strong protests against triple talaaq in Bombay. In L...
