Have sex with us for Halala, say Maulvis to divorced Muslim women

Divorced Muslim women are being offered paid sex by Maulvis for Halala Nikah. Sounds absurd? Then read on.

I was not surprised when I read stuff on a news site that said that some Maulvis in Uttar Pradesh are asking for money in return for Halala Nikah. This stupid but barbaric practice has been going on among Muslims for many years. Want to read this article? Read it here.

But what do Nikah, Triple Talaq etc mean?

Halala, Nikah and Triple Talaq

For people who are unaware of the Muslim social customs, here is a ready reckoner.

Nikah is a marriage of man and woman. This marriage is solemnized by a Muslim Qazi and is a legal instrument.

Now we come to the word,’ Talaq‘. This word means divorce in the Muslim context.

The words, ‘Triple Talaq‘ mean uttering the word, Talaq’  thrice. Many Muslim men divorce their wives by uttering Talaq thrice. Some of these men space out these words, meaning, they take time in uttering them. This gives them time to think about their decisions.

Others utter this word thrice very quickly- in an instant-sometimes in a breath, thus ending their Nikah quickly.

To say that instant Triple Talaq is painful to Muslim women will be an understatement- their lives are ravaged by this barbarity. Many such women have kids and after the Triple Talaq is pronounced, these mothers are thrown out of their houses by their angry husbands.

Unfortunately,  there is no legal remedy for these ladies as the Central Government has stayed away from Muslim matters.

Halala to the ‘rescue’

Sometimes, the husband wants to take back his divorced wife after Triple Talaq. He may feel that he has uttered these three words of Triple Talaq in a fit of anger. The divorced husband is feeling repentant and wants to get back to his divorced wife. Can he simply go to his wife and take her back?

No.

According to Muslim practices, he simply cannot adopt the above route.

He will have to get his ex-wife wed another Muslim man, get her divorced again and then approach his ex-wife for re-marriage!

This re-marriage is Halala.

Let us use an example. Ali and Salima are married and live as husband and wife. They have three young children. Since Salima has no job, so she has to depend on her husband for a living.

One day, Ali gets angry at Salima and utters Talaq, Talaq, Talaq. Now Salima is divorced from Ali.

One second later, Ali realizes his mistake, but it cannot be undone. Salima is now a stranger to him.

He approaches a friend, Abbas and requests him to marry Salima for a few days.

Abbas agrees, but he must need the concurrence of Salima as well.

Salima of course okays the proposal. But now there is a hitch. Abbas wants a few thousand rupees from Salima before their marriage.

Halala, thy name is rape

Since Salima wants to see her children well settled, she agrees to Abbas’ proposal. She gives twenty thousand rupees to him and one day, both of them are married.

A few nights later, Abbas consummates his marriage with Salima. Actually, Salima is raped on her second ‘honeymoon’.

She cannot do much about it because of her children. Salima undergoes the physical and mental humiliation that goes by the name, Halala.

Post Halala, Abbas divorces her and Salima is free to be the wife of Ali once again.

Halala as business

Unfortunately, even after 70 years of our independence, our successive governments have not banned Triple Talaq and Halala.

This cruel practice has humiliated and destroyed several Muslim women. Since these ladies are largely uneducated and have no jobs, they are afraid of speaking up against this practice.

The Muslim men say that Triple Talaq is Islamic in nature so the government should not interfere. Same goes for Halala.

Taking advantage of this situation, some Maulvis are now venturing in the open and demanding money for Halala from divorced Muslim women. Their demands range from few thousand to more than a lac of rupees. Those divorced Muslim women who want to get back to their original husbands have to play ball.

Which means getting physically humiliated by a random Maulvi as well.

No to Triple Talaq

The present government opposes Triple Talaq and Halala, though. It has told the Supreme Court that these two practices are not part of Islam and demean the status of women in the eyes of law.

This is great news to millions of Muslim women who want a life of dignity and equality.

The final Supreme Court decision on Triple Talaq and Halala will come on August 27, this year.

However, at Social Chumbak, we feel that a mere banning of Triple Talaq and Halala is not enough. Muslim ladies must be educated and skilled so that they do not face these cruelties again.

Let there be no Abbas’ between Alis and Salimas of our country.