New Delhi: Addressing on “The Spirituality and Legal Status of Divorce in Islam”, Dr. Mohammed Raziul Islam Nadwi, Secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, expressed strong concern over recent government legislation and judicial interventions affecting Muslim personal law. Speaking at JIH headquarters on Saturday, he said several recent decisions appear to contradict Islamic teachings and are creating anxiety within the Muslim community.
Dr. Nadwi alleged that certain policymakers and judicial figures seem to believe that by introducing conflicting or restrictive laws, they can weaken the role of Muslims in national development. Citing the growing push toward implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), he said that what began as an abstract debate has now taken the shape of specific legal measures targeting Muslim family laws.
He noted that the Portuguese Civil Code is operative in Goa and Uttarakhand enforced its own UCC on January 27, 2025. Gujarat, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Maharashtra, have either formed committees or expressed willingness to introduce similar frameworks. At the national level, the government has signalled its intention to regulate or ban practices such as Halala. The Assam government has gone a step further by declaring certain Muslim practices criminal offences, punishable with up to 10 years of imprisonment and heavy fines.
Rejecting the narrative that UCC is necessary due to a high prevalence of polygamy among Muslims, he said surveys indicate the opposite. “The tendency of having more than one wife is statistically higher among Hindus, not Muslims,” he said, calling the foundational argument for introducing the UCC “factually incorrect and misleading.”
On the Triple Talaq law enacted in 2019, Dr. Nadwi criticised what he described as glaring contradictions within the legislation. The law invalidates instant triple talaq, declaring that no divorce occurs when a man pronounces talaq three times in one go, yet simultaneously criminalises the act with three-year imprisonment. “If the divorce is invalid, what exactly is the criminal offence?” he asked. “And if the husband is imprisoned, how is he expected to provide for his wife, as the same law requires?” These contradictions, he argued, show a lack of thoughtful legal consideration.
Dr. Nadwi also addressed the ongoing case concerning Talaq-e-Hasan. The case, filed in 2022 by journalist Benazir Hina, challenges the validity of a husband issuing divorce notices through a lawyer and condemns Talaq-e-Hasan as discriminatory and violative of constitutional equality. After initial observations suggesting no inconsistency in this form of divorce, the Supreme Court referred the matter to a five-judge Constitution Bench on November 20, 2025.
The JIH Secretary criticised the reasoning behind demands to ban Talaq-e-Hasan. He said arguments that Islam gives unilateral power to men oversimplify and distort the legal and spiritual framework guiding Islamic family law. “These discussions ignore the ethical and philosophical foundations of Islamic teachings,” he said, adding that reforms must emerge from an understanding of the religious context rather than be imposed from outside.
Emphasising that divorce in Islam is a measure of last resort, Dr. Nadwi explained that Islamic jurisprudence regards marriage as a sacred and enduring bond. However, it also recognises human realities. He likened divorce to a medical procedure, just as an amputation is only performed when absolutely necessary to save a person, divorce is permitted only when all reconciliatory steps fail. “If an operation occasionally goes wrong, no reasonable person calls for banning surgery altogether,” he said. “The solution is to correct the errors, not abolish the process.”
Dr. Nadwi reaffirmed that marriage in Islam is both an act of worship and a social contract. As with any contract, it can be dissolved under necessary circumstances, though Islam stresses that maintaining the marital bond is the preferred path. He urged lawmakers to consider the internal logic and wisdom of Islamic family law and to avoid framing legislation that disrupts the social and spiritual integrity of Muslim personal practices.
