PUNE, 2 July 2005 - The rape case and plight of the 28-year-old Indian Muslim woman, Imrana, is slowly turning into a political drama with, both Muslims and non-Muslims pitching in their worth.
While the fatwa issued by Ulemas of the Deoband and the Muslim Law Board has triggered a hornet's nest, the Hindu fundamentalists BJP turned to their pet peeve by calling for reforms in the personal laws of Islam and to bring these in consonance with the constitutional guarantees.
Imrana was raped by her father-in-law, who is now in judicial custody, and the issue of Imrana's marriage and Muslim personal law has all come under sharp focus, in the predominantly Hindu country.
There are 180 million Muslims in India and they were shell-shocked to see on the television screen the victim of rape begging and screaming to be let alone. Fully veiled and in black burqa she was shown on television pleading, "Please leave me alone, please, I'm tired, don't trouble me, don't highlight my case, and to look at this case from the point of view of a woman."
"I shall abide by the decision of the Shariah court, but I would like that the accused be punished severally," said Imrana. "I will do whatever the Shariah asks me to do," she added. "If they tell me to leave my husband, then I will. I will follow the fatwa," she said.
Meanwhile, newspapers too were having a field day by propounding on the issue. In an editorial, Indian Express said that the Ulemas of the Deoband and the Muslim Law Board have made it quite apparent that even in the 21st century, the Ulemas who act under the imprimatur of religion do not understand one simple principle: That a woman is a person in her own right and that Imrana was a victim of a heinous double crime.
The editorial further added that this is not an isolated case of a Muslim woman, but recently we had seen the case of Gudiya, another Muslim woman, whom the self appointed custodians of religion took it upon themselves to determine whether she would have to live with her first husband, who had been assumed dead but eventually returned from Pakistan, or whether she should continue to live with her current husband.
Darul Uloom, of Deoband, which issued the controversial fatwa, stood firm before the Shariah court and had in an edict stated that Imrana's marriage stands nullified in light of the alleged rape and she should separate from her husband.
Her father-in-law Ali Muhammed raped Imrana Noor Elahi, mother of five children and resident of Charthawal town of Muzaffarnagar district in western state of Uttar Pradesh allegedly on June 4. The Islamic seminary Darul Uloom Deoband has ruled that a woman raped by her father-in-law could not be allowed to live with her husband any longer and issuing a fatwa (decree) that her staying with her husband Noor Elahi has become untenable as per the Islamic law after the rape.
The All India Muslim Law Board (AIMPLB) also concurred with the Darul Uloom of Deoband fatwa, while the lone woman member of the board Naseem Iqtedar Ali Khan too approved the edict and said that as per the Qur'an, Imrana's conjugal relationship with her husband stands dissolved, since she had been raped by the latter's blood relative. Had she been raped by anyone other than a blood relative, she could have stayed with her husband, but here, a sacred relationship has been violated, the consequences of which has to be borne by Imrana and her husband Noor Elahi and pointed out that the responsibility of the couple's five children would have to be shouldered by Elahi as long as required. "India is not a Islamic country were a rapist is stoned to death. Here it is the law of the land which prevails in cases of granting relief to a rape victim and punishing the offender" Naseem Khan stated.
The state chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav too expressed his support to the fatwa.
But the BJP took it as an opportunity to continue its Muslim bashing. It said that the fatwa showed how the Muslims were crumbling all over the world. Joining in the opposition to the fatwa was the All India Shia Personal Law Board, which stated that if a man, rapes his daughter-in-law; the victim cannot become the mother of the husband.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) that was hearing the plight of Imrana, said that it was also consulting legal experts on how to tackle the clash between criminal justice and Islamic jurisprudence in Imrana's case.
Mufti Habib ur Rahman of Darul Uloom, who issued the fatwa, however stated that they had been hustled into doing so after queries were raised on Imrana's marital status. The mufti said that he told the parties that raised the queries that the issue ought to be decided by a Shariah court and added that after repeated queries supported by evidence, he issued the fatwa.
Muslim public opinion too, is questioning the right of the religious seminary to adjudicate on a purely criminal offense. "The Darul Uloom should have kept quiet on this issue as India is not a Islamic country. In fact, the Darul Uloom have no right to issue a fatwa on criminal offense" said Naeem Hamid a member of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. What is the logic behind giving a decision in which one party is penalized when it had no power to punish the culprit?" asked Hamid.
Maulana Tauqeer Raza Khan Barelvi of the parallel All India Muslim Law Board (jaded) said that a controversy has been created by some vested interests to get the Shariah laws changed, but what is more reprehensible is that some of our brethren have fallen prey to the designs of these vested interests, he added.
As uproar mounted, South Asia's most influential Islamic theological school waded in with a Fatwa or order saying Imrana, a mother of five children, was prohibited from living with her husband under the Shariah, the Islamic law that governs how Muslims should live.
The BJP and other Hindu fundamentalist organizations organized several protest rallies throughout the country demanding justice to Imrana and demanding the federal government to abolish the Muslim personal law and bring the Muslims under the umbrella of the Uniform Civil Code. The Communist Party of India (CPI-M) leader Brinda Karat described Imrana's plight as a "shocking example of how the contractors of religion can bulldoze the constitutional rights of a citizen.
Joining in the condemnation of Darul Uloom Ulemas for giving a wrong fatwa that has lowered the image of Islam and the Muslims worldwide, Islamic law expert Tahir Mahmood stated that Imrana's fate can't be decided by ancient juristic wisdom. Female Muslim journalist Humra Quraishi writing in a column on Imrana's issue, asked the question whatever happened to Islam's strong emphasis on compassion? She asked how can the fatwa by the Darul Uloom and endorsed by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in one stroke deprive Imrana of her home and hearth and her husband and her five children. Islam said Humra, stands strongly for compassion and neeyat (intention).
Renowned Islamic scholar and Arab News columnist Adil Salahi reacting to the Imrana case and the fatwa said "Whoever gave this fatwa is ignorant. He tells us that marriage is ivalidated by rape, or adultery, or incest. There are only two ways to end a marriage: Divorce including 'khula', and death. But these people are putting their narrow view ahead of the Qur'an that states clearly that a son's wife is unlawful for her father in law, even after she is divorced or becomes a widow. Now they are saying that rape invalidates her marriage and makes her a mother of her husband. This is ignorance in the extreme.
Meanwhile Muslim organizations angry at the BJP outbursts issued a statement in Bombay. In a joint statement the chairman of Muslim Mashavrati Board, Maulana Yaseen Akhtar Misbahi and Raza Academy Secretary Mohammed Saeed Noori said, how can they (BJP) preach about maintaining the dignity of women, when they themselves are torch-bearers in the cruelty on women.
"It is a conspiracy to add fuel and politicize the incident of Imrana and damage the image of Islam and its custom," it said.
Noted film and drama writer director Mujeeb Khan criticized the edict of the Darul Uloom, and said that a ignorant fatwa has put the Muslims in the hall of shame the world over.
