Srinagar, Apr 24 (KNS): A consultative meeting of the Ulema sought suggestions about drafting a ‘Model Nikah’nama’ to address violence against women and to fight certain social evils.
The meet attended by Ulema from various schools of thought, jurists, legal luminaries and civil society members was held in Srinagar, during which consultations were held to delve on measures needed to be taken to counter violence against women which leads to various social issues.
The meeting was organised by Ehsaas, an informal group of like-minded citizens of Kashmir, Ladakh and Jammu and was aimed at discussing the rights guaranteed to women in Islam and addressing vulnerabilities of the womenfolk due to lack of proper implementation.
Informing the participants about the work done by the organisation on gender issues, Bashir Ahmad Dar, said the organisation had been working for the property and marital rights of the half-widows and had, with the help of the Ulemas belonging to different schools of thought, arrived at a breakthrough of four years as waiting period before remarriage, if any of them, so desire.
He said over 35,000 women of marriageable age were unmarried in Kashmir, which was resulting in various social evils.
The meeting held is in continuity with the earlier efforts of the Ehsaas, a civil society group working for the welfare of the women in general, and peace and development in the region in particular.
During the meeting, the participants suggested that there was a dire need to mitigate the sufferings of the people and to put to an end to violence against women.
The participants observed that Kashmiri Muslim women were witnessing violence against them in absence of defined rights in the marriage contract or the Nikah’nama.
To mitigate the sufferings of womenfolk, they said there was a need to empower women who had become victims due to the existing inadequacies in the marriage contract.
Moulana Showkat Hussain Keng, noted Islamic scholar who heads Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam Jammu and Kashmir, traced the history of earlier Muslim marriages and said these marriages did not have any written Nikah’namas.
However, he said, over the years, written Nikah’namas had come up detailing terms and conditions of the marriage contract.
Moulana Ghulam Rasool Noori, a scholar of repute from the Jafriya school of thought, said the terms and conditions in Nikah’nama make the case of women stronger.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel
Moulana Muhammad Sayeed-ur-Rehman Shams, representing the Anjuman-e-Nusrat-ul-Islam, headed by Mirwaiz Moulvi Muhammad Umar Farooq, said Nikah was a religious duty and that the Nikah’namas could be as elaborate as possible without clashing with the Shariah.
Urging all schools of thought to sit together with legal experts, Moulana Hakeem Sajad Hussain from the Jafriya school of thought said there was a need to evolve a consensus on the issue.
Muhammad Sayeed Zargar and Muhammad Suhail Mukaram of the Humsafar Marriage Counselling Cell (HMCC) said the organisation had performed over 30,000 Nikah ceremonies since 2005 with 25 percent of these marriages being of the widows while 70 percent of the people, who availed the services of HMCC, coming from elite families.
They said most of these marriages were a success as HMCC had prepared a Nikah’nama that clearly outlined the terms and conditions of the marriage contract.
Educationist Abdul Gani Madhosh said Nikah’nama should provide security to women.
Social activist Shakeel Qalander said before framing the model Nikah’nama there was a need to seek suggestions from different quarters through media.
Social activist and artist Ruksana Jabeen said women should get part of the property that her family builds after her marriage.
Sheeba Shah said the divorce cases get dragged in courts, causing women pain and mental agony.
The meeting was also attended by jurist Gousia-un-Nisa Jeelani, academician Nusrat Andrabi, journalists Raziya Noor, Baseera Rafiqi, and Zahra Bano from Ladakh.
Senior columnist Mehmood-ur-Rashid moderated the programme.
Presenting the vote of thanks, Secretary Ehsaas, Ezabir Ali said framing a modern Nikah’nama was the need of the hour as many women had suffered because their rights were not clearly defined in it.
She said in a Nikah’nama the main point of interest is the fixing Mehr’ (dower).
Ezabir said many other gifts given to the bride at the time of marriage from both sides are not even mentioned in the contract, thus leading to disputes and conflicts at the time of separation or divorce.
She shared the example of half-widows and said if the Nikah’nama would have taken care of details, these women would not face some of the issues they face in their in-laws house, as their rights would have been clearly mentioned in Nikah’nama. (KNS)