New nikahnama: A boon for Muslim women

Gone are the days when a licentious Muslims husband could get away with his indulgence in illicit sex.

If the newly-formed All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board would have its way, a Muslim would be entitled to seek divorce if her husband was found ton be having illicit relationship with another women.

Divorce could also be sought by a Muslim woman if the husband forces the wife to indulge in unnatural sex. She could also seek 'talaq' (divorce) if the husband contracts AIDS.

The Board on Sunday came out with their much-awaited model nikahnama, which is stated to be aimed at providing Muslim women the desired protection from undue oppression by their husbands.

The new nikahnama also says that a husband is expected to provide 'cooked food' and 'stitched food' to his wife.

It also explicitly bars men from declaring talaq if he is in a rage of anger, intoxication or partial sleep. It disallows divorce over telephone, sms or through the internet.

Releasing copies of the new nikahnama at a press conference in Lucknow on Sunday, Women's Board president Shaista Amber said: "We have framed the new nikahnama strictly in accordance with the tenets of Islam, which clearly

prohibits any kind of harassment or oppression of a married woman by her husband."

The new nikahnama clearly spells out the grounds on which divorce could be initiated by the wife. Besides extra-marital relationship, these include 'absence of physical relationship between the husband and wife for more than a year, abandonment of the wife for more than four years, failure of the husband to look after the wife and family or any kind of ill-treatment or torture.'

According to Amber, the shariat also entitles a woman to take separation even where the husband refuses to divorce. 

"If the wife finds the wedlock totally incompatible, she could part ways by either paying back the mehr amount or something in lieu thereof to the husband and tell him to leave her alone," she pointed out.