Voicing his support for Vice President Mohammed Hamid Ansari's wife Salma Ansari's assertion on triple talaq, Abid Rasool Khan, the chairman of Minorities Commission serving Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, today said that one must study Quran and understand it in the proper perspective.
Stating that there is nothing wrong in what she has said, Khan said, "It is requirement of the day that we should study Quran, which is a complete way of life for human being specially for Muslims and Quran very clearly with examples and with instances show us how we should conduct ourselves in the day to day affairs, family affairs, how we conduct with neighbours, how we conduct with brothers of other community. How I be a good citizen of this country. All these are clearly explained."
"And her being an iconic figure asking the Muslim women to study Quran with the translation who cannot understand Arabic is welcome. And I strongly support her statement and I also retaliate that we should study Quran in Hadis in the proper perspective understand it and if we have any doubts (then) we must talk to the elders of the community, clarify those doubts and practice and propagate it in our daily lives," he added.
Talking to the media on the sidelines of a function in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, yesterday, Salma Ansari said that uttering 'talaq' thrice does not amount to divorce and asked the Muslim women to read the Quran thoroughly instead of relying on clerics.
"If you've read the Quran then you can find the solution there itself. There is no such rule in Quran. They have just made it up. There is no such thing. You read the Quran in Arabic and don't read the translation. You accept whatever the Maulana (clerics) or the Mulla says. You must read the Quran, read Hadis. Just see what Rasool had said," she said.
Asserting that women should not blindly follow anyone, she said that women must have the courage to read the Quran by themselves and introspect what's written in it and gain knowledge about it.
Meanwhile, commenting on the recent talaq cases in Hyderabad and Uttar Pradesh, the chairman of Minorities Commission serving Telangana and Andhra Pradesh said such incidents are extremely unfortunate.
"First of all I condemn these types of acts and I strongly ask my community to stand up against these type of things and condemn it and protect the women from such whimsical ways of doing talaq which is illegal arbitrary and not as per Islamic laws," he told ANI.
A 38-year-old man, identified as Mohammed Haneef, was arrested in Hyderabad earlier on Friday after he sent a postcard with 'triple talaq' to divorce his wife. The arrest took place a day after his wife lodged a complaint against him.
In a similar incident in Uttar Pradesh, a woman was given triple talaq over phone on March 23.
The Allahabad High Court had in December 2016 held that the practice of triple talaq is 'cruel' and raised an issue whether the Muslim Personal Law could be amended to provide relief to the Muslim women.
The High Court also stated that the form of 'instant divorce' is 'most demeaning'.
The Supreme Court is to hear multiple pleas challenging the validity of triple talaq, 'nikah halala' and polygamy practices among the Muslims community on May 11.
Earlier on March 27, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) told the apex court that the pleas challenging such practices among the Muslims were not maintainable as the issues fell outside the realm of judiciary.
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