Table of Contents
Special Topic: nikah halala & polygamy
• The Quran was revealed to Prophet Mohammed in 610 AD.
• The very first verse was “Read” (96: 1).
• Unfortunately for Islam, most people took the meaning of ‘iqra’ (read)
as learn by heart.
• Herein lies the problem, for we don’t know what is right or wrong
ourselves and rely only on ulemas to tell us .
• They tend to translate the ambiguity in some words from a patriarchal
mindset.
• Hence we find many customs that are accepted by Muslims, but not
necessarily laid down in Quran.
• Indian Muslim women are protected by Constitution of India.
• Fortunately, CoI is not ambiguous.
• Muslim women have all the rights in demanding equality and justice.
• Article 14: guarantees equal rights to all citizens
• Article 15: prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste,
sex or place of birth
• Article 25: religious freedom is subject to fundamental rights
• Supreme Court is now looking at the practice of nikah halala and
polygamy.
• Triple talaq was struck down by apex court.
• There is no such thing as nikah halala in Islam or mentioned in the
Quran.
• It is a word coined by Muslim men for their convenience.
• Nikah halala is a practice meant to curb the incidence of divorce,
under which a man cannot remarry his former wife without her having
to go through the process of (temporarily) marrying someone else,
consummating it, getting divorced and observing a three-month
separation period known as iddat.
• “And if he has divorced her (for the third time), then she is not lawful
to him afterward until (after) she marries a husband other than him.
And if the latter husband divorces her (or dies), there is no blame
upon the woman and her former husband for returning to each other if
they think that they can keep (within) the limits of Allah. These are
the limits of Allah, which He makes clear to a people who
know”(Quran 2:230).
• As remarriage was encouraged, once the three-month period of iddat
or waiting is complete, she could marry anyone else she wanted.
These were conditions put in to protect, not exploit, women.
• Further, if this husband dies, or if she didn’t get along with him and it
leads to a divorce, she is free to go back to the first husband as it is
halal. This is to be of her own free will and without any conspiracy,
and certainly not a marriage entered into cynically just for the
purpose of an immediate divorce so that she can remarry the first
husband. Such a marriage can only be called a malpractice or an
innovation against the spirit of Islam.
• There are only two verses in the Quran which talk of polygamy in the
Surah Nisa, verses 3 and 129.
• In the 7th century, when many wars were taking place, and there
were many orphans and widows, verse 3 recommended that men
could marry the female orphans under their care if they felt they
couldn’t act equitably towards them otherwise, with the rider that if
you could not treat them with equal fairness, then marry only one.
• Thus polygamy was allowed only if they could treat wives equally and
verse 129 clarified,
“It will not be within your power to treat your
wives with equal fairness, however much you may desire.”
• So, nowhere does the Quran give carte blanche for Muslim men to
indulge in polygamy.
Prime Minister
• PM Narendra Modi today asked the NRI community to motivate at least
five foreign families to visit India every year for Bharat Darshan.
• He also appealed to the NRI community to work towards the dream of
creating a New India.
• Addressing in the 8th International Convention of Saurashtra Patel
Cultural Samaj of the United States through video conference, Mr
Modi said, this can pave a new way to serve the purpose of Ek Bharat
Shresht Bharat Abhiyan and providing a great boost to India’s tourism
development
MEA
• The 2nd meeting of the joint working group on tourism cooperation
between India and Nepal concluded in Kathmandu this evening.
• Both sides agreed to jointly promote Buddhist and Ramayana circuits
and Adventure tourism.
• The meeting also decided to set up industry led India Nepal Tourism
Forum.
• The Indian delegation was led by the Joint Secretary, Ministry of
Tourism Suman Billa, while Nepalese side was led by Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Ghanshyam Upadhyaya.
• The group was formed after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to
Nepal in 2014 to enhance cooperation in tourism between the two
countries.
Law Commission of India
• The Law Commission of India has recommended that legalising betting
and gambling in India in the present scenario is not desirable and a
complete ban on unlawful betting and gambling must be ensured.
• Justice Ravi Tripathi said, that the commission has submitted its 276th
Report on Legal Framework- Gambling and Sports Betting Including in
Cricket in India.
• He said, it has been recommended that effective regulation is
required to control gambling and betting.
Ministry of Shipping
• Union Minister Shri Nitin Gadkari said that the Government of India is
focusing on sea route and inland waterways.
• The Minister said that under Sagarmala, the Government will give Rs.
500 crore to Shipping Corporation of India to lease out cruises to
promote cruise tourism.
• He said that the Government is promoting use of methanol and
ethanol fuels to be used in cruise so as to bring down fuel cost.
• Shri Gadkari suggested cruise tourist companies to bring cruises from
abroad and refurbish them in India, noting that this will be costeffective
for them.
• He said that the Government is ready to co-operate with the industry
and work on innovative ideas.
Answers-
1. Which country has cleared the sale of six Apache attack helicopters to India for $930M?
A) Canada
B) Russia
C) UK
D) US
2. Which noted Indian social reformer has been honoured with the prestigious Nikkei Asia Prize 2018?
A) Medha Patkar
B) Bindeshwar Pathak
C) Kailash Satyarthi
D) Irom Chanu Sharmila
Questions
1. Which country hosted the 18th edition of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit 2018?
A) India
B) China
C) Russia
D) Pakistan
2. What was the theme of 2018 World Oceans Day (WOD)?
A) Preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions
for a healthy ocean
B) Beat plastic pollution
C) Plastic Pollution: Damaging the oceans
D) Healthy Oceans, Healthy Planet
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