CHENNAI, India (RNS) A leading Islamic seminary has issued a controversial fatwa, or religious edict, saying that when a husband initiates divorce by saying “talaq” three times-even in anger-the divorce takes effect immediately.
The edict, issued by the influential Darul Uloom seminary in the northern city of Deoband, further states that a child born to a pregnant wife who has been given a triple “talaq” will be “very much legitimate and considered the offspring of the husband who has pronounced the talaq.”
The ruling was issued after a man told seminary officials he had said “talaq” (“I divorce you”) three times during a fight with his wife, but did not actually intend to divorce her.
“We both don’t want to be separated, we want to spend life together,” the husband told seminary officials, according to the Darul Uloom Web site.
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has defended the latest fatwa. A Board member, Kamal Farooqui, said it was “absolutely in order and in keeping with the well-established principles of” Sharia Islamic law.
A leading Shia cleric, Maulana Kalbe Jawwad, however, condemned the decree, saying that clerics who “issue fatwas like these bring disrepute to Islam.” He added that “this sort of triple talaq is completely invalid and unacceptable” in Islamic law.
The “triple talaq” controversy is not new in India. Some cases have been reported of husbands pronouncing talaq in their sleep, or failing to communicate the decision to their wives and leaving little chance for reconciliation. The instant divorces are prohibited in several Islamic countries, but the practice continues in India.
Islamic scholars say the Quran clearly spells out how to issue a divorce: It must be spread over three months, which allows a couple time for reconciliation. However, many men now use the mail, the telephone or even instant messaging service to divorce their spouses.
India’s 138 million Muslims make up about 13.5 percent of the overall population. They are governed by Islamic personal laws on issues such as marriage, divorce and property rights.