New Delhi: A majority of the Muslim women have spoken out against the practice of oral, triple, unilateral talaq (divorce) and also polygamy.
As per a survey conducted by the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), findings of which were released on Thursday, 92.1 percent women want oral, triple talaq to be banned.
“Around 91.7% or 4,320 women (out of a total 4,710 women surveyed) have spoken out against polygamy saying that a Muslim man should not be allowed to have another wife during the subsistence of the first marriage,” the survey findings revealed, as per Hindustan Times.
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The survey was conducted across 10 states including West Bengal, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand between July and December 2013.
The findings have come at a time when concerns have been growing in the Muslim community over the growing practice of delivering oral talaq through new media platforms like Skype, text messages, email and WhatsApp.
The findings show that 88.5% of the women surveyed even want action against the clerics who send notices of oral divorce.
Also, 93% women are in favour of mandatory arbitration ahead of a divorce.
According to the survey report, 83.3% Muslim women support the codification of the Muslim family law which they believe will help them get justice.
“This is a very important finding which suggests that women want an elaborate codified law based on the Quranic justice framework to cover matters such as age of marriage, divorce, polygamy, maintenance and custody of children,” the daily quoted Mumbai-based Noorjehan Safia Niaz as saying.
The survey was conducted jointly by Noorjehan Safia Niaz and Zakia Soman.
The surveyors said the main aim behind the exercise was to give voice to the Muslim women and find out what they think on these issues.
