Shariat Courts and Women’s Rights in India

Abstract

India’s 65 million Muslim women, often called a minority within a minority their double handicap of gender and faith, are challenging medieval religious laws that have oppressed them for centuries. In recent years, Muslim women have fought fundamentalist interpretations of Islamic law (Sharia), which have long allowed men in India to divorce their wives for trivial matters and deny them financial support, asking the courts to take into consideration basic human rights. This is very much evident from the reaction of Muslim women against the release of model nikahnama and the clauses mentioned in this regarding marital issues.