NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF STUDY AND RESEARCH IN LAW,

RANCHI

SYNOPSIS

ON

JUDICIAL DIVORCE UNDER MUSLIM LAW

SUBMITTED BY – HARSH MISHRA SUBMITTED TO – DR. SANGEETA

LAHA

SEMESTER – IV, SECTION - A ASSISTANT PROFESSOR

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 ROLL NO. - 745 FAMILY LAW

Introduction

Divorce is the natural right of the husband, provided his relation with his wife run their normal
course. Normally, if he wants to live with her, he should look after her, discharge all the rights
belonging to her and treat her kindly. If he finds it impossible to live with her smoothly, he
should pay up all her dues and part with her. Besides her dues, he is also required to pay her an
additional sum as a token of goodwill and gratitude. The Holy Qur’an says: “Provide for them,
the rich according to his means, and the strained according to his means, a fair provision’.In
such cases divorce does not depend on the will and pleasure of the husband. If such a man is not
willing to divorce, the woman cannot be allowed to endure the agony without having a remedy.
Islam does not play the role of a silent spectator in such cases.

The establishment of a just society has been the basic aim of all the Prophets. The Holy Qur’an
says: Certainly we sent Our Messengers with clear proofs and sent down with them the Book and
the Balance, so that humankind may conduct itself with equity.

Literature Review

In the article of Lynn Welchman on Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States: A
Comparative Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy, ISIM Series on Contemporary
Muslim Societies (2007), In the textual formulation of gender-specific rights and duties in the
spousal relationship, the financial obligations of the husband (and the man in general) are set
against his authority and control within the family. Besides the husband’s obligation to pay
dower to his wife, standard elements included in most of the codes are the husband’s duty to
provide maintenance and a ‘lawful dwelling’, the wife’s duty to cohabit with her husband in such
a dwelling and to move with him should he relocate or travel.

In the article of Anees Ahmed on Reforming Muslim Personal Law, (Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 2001), it
was said that there is nothing in Quran and other original sources of Islamic law that denies
successive generations of Muslims a right to interpret the law so as to accommodate the
imperatives and concern of later times. Indeed, there are in built-mechanism and techniques in

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Islamic Doctrine, as ordained by Prophet Mohammad himself, that take care of situations where
the Quran and the sunnah did not disclose the precise path to follow. One such technique is
‘ijtihad’, which literally means independent technique and signifies the exercise of one’s reason
to formulate a rule of law. The other is ‘takkayyur’, which envisages the adoption of benevolent
principles from among the percepts of the various schools of Islamic law being used in other
parts of the world.

In the book of Ibrahim Abdel Hamid on “Dissolution of Marriage”(1956), it was discussed that
Among pre-Islamic Arabs, the powers of divorce possessed by the husband were unlimited. They
could divorce their wives at any time, for any reason or without any reason. They could also
revoke their divorce, and divorce again as many times as they preferred. Moreover, they could, if
they were so inclined, swear that they would have no intercourse with their wives, though still
living with them. They could arbitrarily accuse their wives of adultery, dismiss them, and leave
them with such notoriety as would deter other suitors; while they themselves would go exempt
from any formal responsibility of maintenance or legal punishment.

Research Objective

1. To understand the status of married women in Muslim law with the help of their culture
and practices.
2. To understand the inhuman practice in Islamic Community regarding married women and
their rights after marriage.
3. To analyze the sociological, psychological and physiological divorced and married
Muslim women.
Research Question

1. What is the status of women in Muslim law with the help of their culture and practices?
2. Whether different forms of taking divorce in muslim law is the inhuman practice in
Islamic Community and whether the basic rights of married women are infringed?
3. Whether traditional form of taking divorce has any negative impact on sociological,
psychological and physiological effect on Muslim women?

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 Hypothesis
1. The status of married Muslim women in this community is shaking their rights because of
unauthorized divorce procedures.
2. Other forms of divorce apart from judicial separation have negatively affects the
sociological, psychological and physiological lives of Muslim women.
3. Judicial separation is more reliable form of ending he marital contract than any other
traditional forms.
Methodology

The methodology proposed to be adopted by the researcher in this work, is ‘doctrinal’ as well as
empirical in nature. The research is analytical in nature. The researcher, for the purpose of this
study, will rely on various sources of information, both primary and secondary, Articles
published in various journals, Text-books, Law Journals, Judicial Pronouncements, and websites
etc. Uniform mode of citation will be adopted to write the paper.
UNIVERSE OF THE STUDY - The universe of the study is the Muslim Community, their religious
leader and special focus is on muslim women of Sunni and Shia Sect.
METHODOLOGY OF DATA COLLECTION
PRIMARY SOURCES: Primary data is one, which is collected by the people for the purpose of
a specific study. Such data is original in character and is generated by surveys conducted by each
individual. But the area of this paper basically deals with doctrinal research and not on field
work.
SECONDARY SOURCES: Secondary data is that which has been already collected by some
other individual or agency. Secondary data can be obtained from journals, reports, government
publications, publication of professional and research organization, annual reports and so on.
 BOOKS:
1. The Holy Quran,
2. Halsburys laws of India
3. Family Law in India
4. Mohammedan Law by Aqil Ahmed

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 ARTICLES:
1. Suraiya Nazeer, “Female Genital Mutilation: Secret Practice in India”, International
Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Vol 7, Issue 7, July 2017 341 ISSN
2250-3153.
2. H. Rushwan, “Female genital mutilation FGM/management during pregnancy, childbirth
and the postpartum period,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, vol. 70,
no. 1, pp. 99–104, 2000.
3. Female Genital Mutilation: Secret Practice in India Suraiya Nazeer Department Central
of Central Asian Studies, of Kashmir, International Journal of Scientific and Research
Publications, Volume 7, Issue 7, July 2017 341 ISSN 2250-3153.
4. Female genital mutilation: A tragedy for women’s reproductive health Hamid Rushwan∗
International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO), March 2013, United
Kingdom.
 ONLINE DATABASE
 www.manupatrafast.com
 www.heinonline.com
 www.scconline.com
 www.jstor.org

References
1. Lynn Welchman, “Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States: A Comparative
Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy”, (2007), Amsterdam University Press,
pp 256.
2. Anees Ahmed, “Reforming Muslim Personal Law”, Economic and Political WeeklyVol.
36, No. 8 (Feb. 24 - Mar. 2, 2001), pp. 618-619 (2pages)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4410313

3. Suraiya Nazeer, “Female Genital Mutilation: Secret Practice in India”, International

Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, Vol 7, Issue 7, July 2017 341 ISSN
2250-3153.
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4. H. Rushwan, “Female genital mutilation FGM/management during pregnancy, childbirth
and the postpartum period,” International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics, vol. 70,
no. 1, pp. 99–104, 2000.