After Supreme Court Of India Criminalised Triple Talaq, Cases Of Khula Rising In India

Cases Of Khula Are Also Rising In Pakistan Main Points: 1. Bihar, Jharkhand and Maharashtra have witnessed a rise in Khula cases. 2. Darul Qaza Bihar received 572 petitions for Khula in 2022. 3. In Pakistan, more women seek Khula. 4. In Sindh province alone, 50, 000 cases of khula were disposed. 5. Khula cases in Sindh jumped by 30 per cent in three years. ---- By New Age Islam Staff Writer 13 January 2023 After the Supreme Court of India criminalised Instant Triple Talaq in 2017, now the focus is on Khula, the process of divorce initiated by the wife. In Islamic Shariah, a woman can seek divorce from her husband when she fears physical or mental torture by the husband. The Quran hints at Khula and prescribes a mutual separation in case of incompatibility. It was hoped that after the Triple Talaq is abolished, cases of Talaq or divorce will come down. But on the contrary, a new phenomenon has emerged. Although, cases of Triple Talaq pronounced by the husband have really come down, the cases of divorce by Khula have catapulted in India. A study from Bihar and Jharkhand shows that more women have filed for Khula since 2017. About 5,000 cases of Khula were filed in 2020-21 alone. Cases of Khula in major cities like Delhi and Mumbai are also rising. It is also interesting to note that Darul Qazas now rarely receive cases of Triple Talaq. It brings out a change in the behaviour of men after the criminalisation of Triple Talaq. They negotiate with their wives on divorce and persuade the wives to file for Khula or torture them physically and mentally so that she files for Khula. The cases of Mubarat are still low making it clear that the men still don’t follow the Quranic mode of divorce. They create circumstances in which the woman is compelled to file for Khula. In that case, the woman has to forego Mehr. But the issue of Khula has become a bone of contention between the judiciary and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. In November, the Kerala High Court ruled that a Muslim woman had the right to end marriage through Khula and that the man had no right to withhold his consent. The verdict said: "In the absence of any mechanism in the country to recognise the termination of marriage at the instance of the wife when the husband refuses to give consent, the court can simply hold that Khula can be invoked without the conjunction of the husband." But the AIMPLB says that the woman does not enjoy unilateral right to end marriage through Khula and that the husband has the right to reject the wife's demand for Khula. The AIMPLB says that the marriage can be dissolved through Faskh. But the situation in Pakistan is different so far as Khula is concerned. In Pakistan, Khula is on the rise though Triple Talaq is not a criminal offence there. However, the process of divorce is not as easy as it is in India. Secondly, since a man in Pakistan has the right to keep four wives, he does not have the compulsion to end a marriage to marry another woman. Therefore, Khula is the option used by women not happy with the marriage or undergoing mental or physical torture. In the last two or three years, more precisely, since the Covid-19 lockdown, the cases of Khula have risen in Pakistan. The cases of Khula have risen by 30 per cent in Sindh province alone. Financial hardships, drug addiction of the husband, torture by the husband or simply waywardness of the husband are some of the reasons of Khula. Since keeping three or four wives is not prohibited in Islam, marrying another woman despite a happy marital life is considered normal in Pakistani society. Even some Ulema encourage it. A famous cleric Maulana Tarique Masood has three wives and proudly announces it on social media. It sends wrong signals among the people, especially the youth. They ignore the precondition laid down for multiple marriages by the Quran. The precondition is equal treatment. For example, a man got married and went to Lahore from Karachi in connection with his hob after two months of the marriage. After some time he married a woman in Lahore and stopped talking to his first wife over phone. Later, he even stopped sending money to her. The first wife had to file for Khula. Obviously, the Quran does not endorse such marriages. The rise in divorce or Khula, as shown by various studies, is the result of multiple socio- economic factors. The financial hardships are the most important factor behind Khula. This fact has been corroborated by statistics of divorces and Khula during and after the global lockdown. In India, rise in Khula is a sign of the strategic shift in the behaviour of men due to the criminalisation of Triple Talaq. But in Islamic countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh where poverty drives social behaviour, cases of Khula have risen. In Pakistan, polygamy is a major factor behind Khula. Drug addiction and violent behaviour of men are also important factors. Polygamy is glorified and encouraged by Ulema as a symbol of virility and manhood ignoring the pre-conditions for and responsibilities of keeping four wives. This also leads to Khula. ------ Marriage Laws in Pakistan: Why Are More Women in Karachi Seeking Divorce? By Rana Malhi 11 Jan 2023 Twenty-eight years old Aqeela Naz lives with her parents in a two-room congested flat in a small compound in the Korangi area of Pakistan's port city of Karachi. With a disappointed face, Naz recalls her wedding days when she was pleased and excited to start her new chapter of life in 2021. "My parents were also happy when I got married to Abul Wahhab, and he promised my parents that he would take care of me, fulfil my basic needs and never disappoint me," she said. After two months, Wahhab went to Lahore from Karachi for job purposes. Initially, he would keep in touch with her over phone, but after a few days, he started ignoring Naz and stopped responding altogether. He even stopped sending money to her. After a few days, she inquired through their relatives in Lahore, and they found that he got married to another girl. "When the members of my family got to know about his second marriage and told him that you did wrong, he started threatening me continuously," she added. Fed up with his threats and such unprecedented and reckless behaviour, she finally filed a Khu in the family court. Why Are More Women in Pakistan Resorting to Khula 'Khul', also called Khula is a procedure through which a woman can give divorce to her husband in Islam by returning the dower or something else that she had received from her husband or without producing anything, as agreed by the spouses or Qadi's decree depending on the circumstances. According to official data in the Sindh province, a total of 44,695 Khula cases were instituted in the three years, and 50,262 were disposed of in family courts. The number of Instituted cases of Khula in 2020 were 11,639, and 14,448 disposal cases. In one year, the instituted cases rose to 16,287 whereas disposal numbers became 19,832. In 2021, the percentage of institution cases increased by 28% whereas in 2022, it rose by 2% and jumped 30% from 2020 to 2022 over three years in the Sindh province. Currently, the rate of Khula and divorce in Pakistan has catapulted to a sad state. Only in City Court Karachi, thousands of Khula and divorce cases were filed this year compared to the past and this problem is eroding the roots of our family system. Speaking to The Quint, an advocate of High Court Muqadar Ali says, according to Islamic law, Khula gives the right to a woman wanting to take divorce or separate from her husband due to any kind of issue or conflict, to file suit (for the desolation of marriage) before the court at any time. "In pre-trial, the judges always try to strike a compromise between the husband and wife and also guide both to take time. If the wife agrees to compromise, then Khula's suit can be discarded," Ali said. Women file Khula due to various reasons. Some of them being domestic violence by the husband, not permitting the wife to visit her parents or do a job, and sometimes, second marriage of the husband. "Every day in family courts, cases of Khula is increasing, and due to the dissolution of marriage, the said woman's parents as well as the children of the divorced couple (if any) suffer a lot mentally because they feel that the society will taunt their daughter for not keeping up with in-laws and the neighbourhood will also gossip about their life," Ali added. Social Stigma Refrains Most Women To Terminate Abusive Marriages 36-year-old Shazia Khalil, mother of two, living in North Karachi, dissolved her marriage in July 2022 through Khula. She and her husband had a love marriage; they were colleagues and later, became good friends and tied the knot, thereafter. "The initial years of our marriage were good, but after some time, my husband got addicted to drugs, and he used to come home drunk and beat me or physically assault my children. That traumatised me. I did not tell my family for fear of being stigmatised. Still, that kind of behaviour negatively impacted my children and so, I finally decided to withdraw from this toxic relationship, " she said. Many such women continue to endure their husbands' violence for fear of societal discord. Most women in rural areas do not want to end their marriage despite this violence and remain trapped in abusive marriages life-long. Parental Divorce Is Often a Blow to Child Psychology Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Lakesh Kumar says that before divorce or Khula, the quarrel between the couple and the use of abusive language generate mental health issues in children, some of whom even suffer from depression. In such cases, separation between parents proves beneficial for the child's upbringing. However, custody issues in which the child either goes to the mother or the father, can adversely affect his/her growth and performance, academic and otherwise. "Children feel ashamed of themselves and wonder why it only happened between their parents and not others'. Even a child is not mentally ready to accept it. If his mother remarries, he faces difficulty accepting to replace his father with someone else," Kumar added. Children are susceptible to extreme emotions and therefore, after this change, they get angry at the slightest thing, and feel misunderstood and unloved. They grow up believing that their parents were a self-centred bunch who dismissed their children's feelings and hence, turn rebellious. Expressing his fear, Dr Kumar said that if separation and divorce rises in such a proportion, people's tendency to marry will also reduce. Laws Enable Pakistani Women To Call Off Marriages A Non-Government Organisation (NGO) called "The Legal Aid Society(LAS) Pakistan" works on Women's right to legal property. They provide legal guidance and help women suffering from toxic relationships who want to take Khula. Miss Hunza Moin, Project Manager at The Legal Aid Society Pakistan told The Quint that many women who came here for support of legal aid were unaware of the laws to protect them from violence. "In the digital era, women are also learning online skills, working and earning through online platforms, so that they do not have to endure further mistreatment. They become finically independent too, which helps them lead a hassle-free live post-separation," she said. She also added that, "No woman willingly takes her Khula, and only arrives at such a stage when her life and that of her kids come under threat. More so, our society makes it difficult for women to formalise her divorce as it goes against cultural norms." Note: The names of the couples mentioned have been changed to protect their privacy. ----- Rana Malhi is a Karachi-based multimedia journalist. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same. Source: Marriage Laws in Pakistan: Why Are More Women in Karachi Seeking Divorce? URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/sc-india-triple-talaq-khula/d/128866 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism