Triple Talaq: All you Need to Know

The Lok Sabha, on December 27, 2018, passed the Muslim Women Bill (Protection of Rights on Marriage) 2018, also known as the Triple Talaq Bill, amidst a lot of chaos.

The Bill will now be passed on to the Rajya Sabha for it to be finally passed as a law.

What is Triple Talaq?

Triple Talaq, or instant talaq is a form of Islamic divorce which allows a Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by stating the word talaq thrice, either orally, written or in any electronic form.

The Use of Triple Talaq

The use of Triple Talaq has been a part of a continuous controversy in India for years. It has raised issues like gender equality, human rights, secularism, among many others.

The husband is not required to give any reasons for the talaq and also the woman need not be present or know about it. It is a practice followed by the Sunni community for over a thousand years. However, it does not have any mention in the Quran or Sharia law.

Why the need for a new bill?

The Supreme Court in 2017, brought up triple talaq by calling it “unconstitutional”. It had “banned” this practice but nothing much happened and the practice continued to exist.

Muslims from all over India have been rallying for their rights ever since. The years 2017 and 2018 have seen a large number of cases registered in the courts against triple talaq.

All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a non-governmental organisation told the Supreme Court that, the women too possess the power of practicing triple talaq, they just need to be educated about it. The organisation opposed the Supreme Court’s move to ban this practice.

What is the Triple Talaq bill?

The bill was introduced by the Indian Government in 2017, citing that instant triple talaq or Talaq-e-biddah in any form, i.e. spoken, written or through electronic means like email, SMS or WhatsApp is illegal and void, and can result in up to three years in jail. This bill was passed by the Lok Sabha the same year but was then rejected by the Rajya Sabha after many opposing parties did not give consent to the proposal.

The new bill is a follow up of the original 2017 bill and has been passed up the Lok Sabha.

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