Bareilly seminary fatwa says woman’s presence not needed for triple talaq

BAREILLY: In a move that will generate fresh controversy over the practice of triple talaq in the country, a cleric at the influential Dargah Aala Hazrat here on Thursday issued a fatwa declaring that it was not necessary for a woman to be present or hear when she is given triple talaq, nor was her signature needed on divorce papers.
The fatwa came after a man from Bareilly raised the question in the backdrop of the case of Nida Khan, who was divorced by Sheeran Raza Khan, the nephew of seminary head Subhan Raza Khan.Nida had alleged that she learnt about the divorce only in court and her signature was not present on the divorce papers.
Mohd Bakhtiyar Khan, a resident of Tiliyapur village under CB Ganj area, had asked the seminary, “If a man says he has given triple talaq to his wife, but the woman denies it, saying she was not present or did not hear when talaq was pronounced, what does Shariat say? Is it necessary for a woman to be present at the time of her divorce, or is her signature required on divorce papers?”
Responding to this query on Thursday, Mufti Mohammed Kaushar Ali of Markazi Darul Ifta of Dargah Aala Hazrat passed the fatwa saying, “It is not necessary for the woman to hear ‘talaq’, nor is her presence required when she is given triple talaq. Her signature is not compulsory.” The fatwa added that if the husband gives triple talaq, the couple can only reunite if the woman remarries and is then divorced by her second husband.
Mohd Bakhtiyar Khan said, “I decided to ask this question because Nida and a few other women have questioned triple talaq, saying they were not physically present when they were granted divorce.”
Nida Khan however dismissed the fatwa. “Supreme Court in 2014 had ruled that fatwas issued by shariat courts or clerics have no legal sanctity. I do not consider this fatwa to be valid.”
Nida moved court in June this year demanding an FIR against her husband and in-laws for assaulting her and causing a miscarriage. Police in its final report gave a clean chit to the accused, after the couple was divorced. However, Nida claimed on Tuesday that she was not given a divorce in her presence and the family used triple talaq to dodge the criminal case.
“In court, Sheeran claimed that he gave triple talaq to me in February 2016 in the presence of my family members and me. However, I learnt about the divorce only in court. Even the divorce papers have signatures of Sheeran and his two witnesses, but my signatures and those of my witnesses are not there. Police in their final report gave a clean chit to Sheeran and his family as we are divorced. He used triple talaq as a tool to escape the law,” Nida had alleged.