“UP Cleric Issuing Fatwa Against Nida Khan Has No Relevance”

After a Bareilly Muslim Cleric Shahar Imam Mufti Khurshid Alam issued a fatwa against activist and Triple Talaq petitioner Nida Khan, Muslim activists and scholars have come out in support of Khan and said that Fatwas don’t have any constitutional validity. “He has no power to issue a Fatwa. It is just a matter of the patriarchal mindset wherein the cleric believes that his words would hold any value. A fatwa is an opinion and his opinion in this matter is worthless, anti-Quranic and anti-Islamic,” said noted Islamic scholar and Director General of Wisdom Foundation, Zeenat Shaukat Ali.

She further added that the government should take action against these people so there is some degree of accountability. “Such pronouncements have nothing to do with Islam and are anti-women and he should not be allowed to get away with this,” she said.

Ali is of the opinion that these clerics make these declarations to assert their power over the society because Islam has not taught such things. “Islam has always given women equal rights. Women in Islam fought wars, were social workers, etc. There is a great amount of contribution that women have made to the Islamic civilization,” she added.

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Agreeing to Ali, Supreme Court Advocate Farha Faiz explained what a Fatwa means, as she says, it means nothing more than an opinion. “It is not a mandate but just someone’s view on something. Secondly, it matters who has issued the Fatwa which in this case is a Qazi who has studied from Darul Uloom which is famous for creating an army of Qazis while we don’t even have the Qazi system anymore,” said Faiz.

“Who is he to decide who will participate in her funeral or not? Who is he to decide if someone is a Muslim or not? Allah defines these things and he hasn’t given this right to decide to anybody. You can read Sharia and nowhere does it say that one must degrade women like this. In fact, it clearly says to protect and maintain women so is this cleric trying to violate the Sharia?” she asks.

Faiz also says that the Supreme Court outlawed the Triple Talaq only because Quran never even mentions Triple Talaq in one go. "So, if the AIMPLB could not present a strong argument against the fact that it is only a customary practice then that is what led the apex court to invalidate it. Now, why are these people coming out and issuing Fatwas against women petitioners? This only points to one thing that they want to show us their power and influence but women today don’t fear such people.”

India is a democratic country. No one can ostracise me from Islam. Only Allah can decide who is guilty.

Author and Researcher Aneela Zeb Babar feels that for most Muslim women in this day and age, Fatwas don’t matter at all. “It is only for cultural reason that these clerics even exist because in Islam, we connect with God directly. It is a sign of a dying system that they will try to find places to hit out at women.”

Alam held a press conference on Monday and issued a Fatwa against Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala petitioner Nida Khan for speaking against Islam and its practices. It says that the Muslim community should ostracize Khan.

"No medicines will be provided if she falls ill. If she dies, no one is allowed to offer 'namaz' on her 'Jenaza' (funeral procession). She cannot be buried in kabristan (graveyard) after her death," Mr Alam said quoting the Fatwa.

However, Khan rejected the Fatwa and said that those who issue such Fatwas “should go to Pakistan”. "India is a democratic country. No one can ostracise me from Islam. Only Allah can decide who is guilty," she said, NDTV reported.

Khan is also one of the survivors of Triple Talaq cases. Her husband, Usman Raza Khan alias Anzu Miyan, gave her Triple Talaq in 2016 and since then she is fighting for the rights of Muslim women.

Picture Credit: The Renaissance