Now, Shia women get divorce rights

MUMBAI: In a significant move aimed at protecting women, the All-India Shia Personal Law Board on Sunday unanimously approved a model ’Nikahnama’ (marriage contract) that gives them the same rights as men for divorce.

“Our model Nikahnama, which has been approved by the highest Shia cleric of Iraq, Ayatullah Sistani, and constitutional experts, came into force from November 26, 2006,” board president Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar told reporters here on Sunday. “In this marriage contract, both bride and groom can put their conditions at the time of the wedding. The bride will have the right to demand divorce which she can use if needed,” Athar said.

The Nikahnama was approved at the board’s second general body meeting here that was attended by a large number of clerics and leaders from across the country.

Athar, however, said the board could only publicise the Nikahnama and it would be up to Shia Muslims to follow it. “It will not be obligatory,” he said, adding it would be implemented with the consent of both parties to a marriage.

Terming it a “visionary and a progressive” move, board secretary Zaheer Abbas Rizvi said the wife would have the right to seek divorce if she is cheated and barred from her rights to education and improving her life. Women can use the Nikahnama against men who get married by providing false and misleading information. They can also seek divorce if the groom disappears for two years, if he does not inquire about the wife for months together, does not fulfil her essential needs, or uses physical force or forces her to have sexual relations with other men.

The wife, however, cannot indulge in “wasteful expenditure” that lands her husband in debt, and must approach arbitrators mentioned in the document for seeking divorce and not directly approach a court. “The Nikahnama will protect the rights of women and help save them from exploitation and injustice,” Athar said.