Bigamy Against True Islamic Law, Says Law Panel

Times of India ^ | 7 August 2009 | Dhananjay Mahapatra

[nickcarraway]

Taking on a potentially explosive issue, the Law Commission has said that bigamy conflicts with ``true Islamic law in letter and

spirit'' and added that the popular perception that Muslim law in India allowed men to take four wives was faulty.

``We fully agree with the fact that traditional understanding of Muslim law on bigamy is gravely faulty and conflicts with true Islamic law in letter and spirit,'' the commission said in its 227th report to the government, reflecting the unanimous view of chairman Justice A R Lakshmanan and members Tahir Mahmood and B A Agrawal.

The panel, however, stopped short of recommending a change in the Muslim law as it feared this could stir an ``unhealthy controversy'' as religious leaders were not prepared for any legislative reform.

``It is generally believed that under Muslim law, a husband has an unfettered right to marry again even where his earlier marriage is continuing. On a closer examination of the relevant provisions of the Quran and other sources of Islamic law, this does not seem to be true,'' it said.

To buttress its argument, the commission said bigamy had been abolished or restricted by law in most Muslim countries. ``Turkey and Tunisia have completely outlawed it while in Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Yemen, Morocco, Pakistan and Bangladesh, it has been subjected to administrative or judicial control,'' it said.

In the Indian context, the commission said, ``Bigamy is not very common among Muslims and cases of men having more than one wife at a time are few and far between. Muslim society of India in general looks at polygamy with great disfavour and a bigamist is looked down upon in and outside his family.''

Despite this, the commission said, change wasn't forthcoming. ``Unfortunately, religious leaders are not prepared for any legislative reform in this respect and religious sensitivities have never allowed the state to introduce any reform in this regard,'' it said.

The report was submitted to law minister Veerappa Moily on Wednesday by Justice Lakshmanan. The commission said courts in India also looked down upon bigamy and provided all sorts of relief to first wives of bigamist husbands. ``Several high courts have held that bigamy amounts to cruelty which can be pleaded as an answer to the man's suit for restitution of conjugal rights against the first wife,'' it said.

``In one case, the Supreme Court had...observed that there was no difference between a second wife and a concubine,'' the commission added.

[parsifal]

Maybe they’ll outlaw murder and terrorism next.

parsy,, who thought they could have three wives if they wanted to

[flowerplough]

Yeah, if bigamy’s un-Islamic, somebody shoulda told Muhammad.