All India Shia Personal Law Board says triple talaq is destroying families and should be ended.
Days after a top cleric of Ajmer Sharif Dargah called for an end to triple talaq and cow slaughter, the All India Shia Personal Law Board has weighed in, supporting calls for ending the practice of triple talaq that was destroying families.
The board's executive committee said the government should put an end to the practice of Muslim men divorcing their wives by saying talaq thrice, just as the practice of widows burning themselves on her husband's funeral pyre, 'Sati', among Hindus was illegalised.
The panel also spoke out in favour of a complete ban on cow slaughter.
Syed Zainul Abedin Ali Khan, the spiritual head of the Ajmer Sharif shrine, had this week made a similar point, calling the practice of "triple talaq" against the spirit of Quran. The practice is also expected to come under the Supreme Court's scanner next month when a constitution bench of the top court begins hearings to assess its legality.
At its meeting on Tuesday, the board felt that though Islam gave men and women equal rights, the practice of triple talaq had adversely affected this status for women.
On cow slaughter, the board took note of how it had led to a spike in tensions between two communities and felt it was in the interest of all that the government bans it.
"In a meeting of the Board's executive committee, a decision was taken to support the call for a pan-India ban on cow slaughter for which it will propagate the fatwas issued in the past so as to remove all doubts from the minds of people," spokesperson for the board, Maulana Yasoob Abbas said.
He added that people would be apprised about the fatwa had been issued against cow slaughter in Iran.