Triple talaq, or instantaneous talaq ("I divorce you" in Arabic) is a Sharia law from the 7th century that allows men to unilaterally end their marriages by simply saying talaq three times in succession.
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Farha's husband instantly divorced her last year by saying "talaq, talaq, talaq" in a fit of anger after their 10-year-old daughter had asked him for five rupees (seven cents) to buy some firecrackers for a holiday celebration.
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Triple talaq is an Islamic practice where a man can divorce his wife by saying "talaq," the Arabic word for divorce, three times.
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Triple Talaq Verdict: A massive win for Indian Muslim Women Indian Muslim women achieved a monumental victory when the country's Supreme court declared "triple talaq" unconstitutional.
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Under triple talaq, a Sharia law practice dating from the 7th century, Muslim men can divorce their wives by uttering the words "talaq" ("I divorce you" in Arabic) three times.
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Triple talaq, as it is commonly called, is an ancient and controversial Islamic practice where a man divorces a woman by saying the word talaq, the Arabic word for divorce, three times.
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Now, his ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is challenging an Islamic practice, known as "triple talaq", that allows a man to divorce his wife simply by uttering the word "talaq" three times.
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In August 2017, the Supreme Court in India outlawed triple talaq—a practice where Muslim men could divorce their wives simply by saying the word "talaq" (Arabic for "divorce") to them three times.
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The Modi government will also reintroduce so-called triple talaq legislation, which would outlaw traditional Muslim divorces — in which a husband can divorce his wife by repeating the word talaq, or divorce, three times.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist administration has been pushing to criminalize "triple talaq", under which a man can divorce by uttering the word "talaq", meaning divorce in Arabic, three times in his wife's presence.
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The practice, called triple talaq, allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by using the word "talaq," meaning divorce in Arabic, three times in person, over the phone or even in writing or text message.
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Pushback Not everyone, however, is in favor of banning triple talaq.
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"The triple talaq is considered binding by the majority of Muslims, as is a talaq under anger," a spokesman for the Islamic Council for Meditation and Arbitration, which specializes in marriage and divorced-based issues, told VICE.
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The Quran makes no mention of instant divorce using the talaq method.
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The Indian government told the Supreme Court this month polygamy and triple talaq - by which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by saying "talaq" thrice - deny Muslim women "the full enjoyment of fundamental rights under the Constitution".
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"The majority decision is that triple talaq is banned in law," said Srinivasan.
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In March, a million women put their signatures behind a petition against triple talaq.
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Decades-long fight This triple talaq petition before the Supreme Court is not the first.
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VICE: What happens in situations when a man's unsure if he's said the triple talaq?
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The controversy around triple talaq stems from how it is practiced in modern day societies.
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Men could do the "triple talaq" in person, by letter or even over the phone.
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Rana Safvi, an author and activist who was involved in campaigning against triple talaq, said she welcomed certain provisions of the ordinance, including the closing of a loophole that would have allowed anybody to file a police complaint accusing a man of triple talaq.
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The three-count limit was set to prevent the husband from pronouncing talaq on a whim.
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The Koran recommends a process of dialogue over a 90-day period after talaq is verbally invoked.
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In a recent campaign, it collected 50,000 signatures from Muslim men and women to end triple talaq.
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No legal recourse The controversy around talaq stems from how it is practiced in modern day societies.
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A man must consider his decision for a period of three months after he initially declares talaq.
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Many predominantly Muslim countries have already banned triple talaq, which is widely frowned upon around the world.
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Though triple talaq is invoked in vanishingly few real-life cases, it is clear that the practice is unjust.
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In classic Muslim thinking a man can renounce his wife unilaterally by pronouncing the word talaq on three occasions.
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A senior BJP leader in Uttar Pradesh said the party planned to highlight triple talaq during election campaigning there.
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Should talaq be called a third time, however, the divorce becomes irrevocable on the day the husband says the word.
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In another instance, a woman in Bhopal (a city in central India) found a talaq message on her Facebook wall.
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Earlier this year, activists filed petitions in the Indian supreme court to declare both triple talaq and nikah halala unconstitutional.
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The abolition of Triple Talaq will contribute to women empowerment and give women the dignity they deserve in our society.
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There was no easy way to pursue a case in court as the practice of talaq is not formally banned.
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Under this type of divorce, a Muslim man can divorce his wife instantly by saying the word "talaq" three times.
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The practice allows a husband to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, "talaq", three times.
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India's parliament approved a law banning Muslim men from divorcing their wives simply by saying the word talaq three times.
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According to the Quran, a man must consider his decision for a period of three months after he initially declared talaq.
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Historically, triple talaq has helped to entrench discrimination for Muslim women in the country and lower their lower socio-economic prospects.
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Her petition, which is supported by the BMMA, demands a ban on the practices of instant talaq, polygamy, and nikah halala.
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An alleged copy of the couple's divorce certificate circulating on social media lists the separation as an irreversible "triple talaq" divorce.
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Last year, the Supreme Court struck down the practice, known as triple talaq, which is widely frowned upon around the world.
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In India, Muslim men have been able to end their marriages by saying the word "talaq" — Arabic for "divorce" — three times.
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Husbands need only repeat the Arabic word for divorce — talaq — three times, which can leave the women homeless and without prospects.
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And in contrast to its thunderous ruling on privacy, the Supreme Court's decision on triple talaq was, more typically, obscure and timid.
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It also proposes prison terms for Muslim men who practise "triple talaq", a kind of instant divorce that the courts have banned.
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But in India, which is home to the third-largest Muslim population in the world, triple talaq has always been deeply divisive.
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The government filed a motion in support of a Supreme Court case this year in which a Muslim woman opposed triple talaq.
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India's Supreme Court outlawed triple talaq in August last year and asked the government to introduce legislation to enforce the court ruling.
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New Delhi (CNN)India's Supreme Court banned the controversial Islamic divorce practice known as "triple talaq" in a landmark ruling announced Tuesday.
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More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed by BMMA last year said they wanted an end to polygamy and triple talaq.
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The age-old practice, allows a Muslim man to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, "talaq", three times.
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"The lives of Muslim women cannot be allowed to be destroyed by 'triple talaq,'" Modi told a rally in the town of Mahoba.
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One challenges the right of Muslim men to divorce their wives by uttering the word "talaq" ("I divorce you" in Arabic) three times.
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India's Supreme Court plans to constitute a 5-judge bench to rule on the issue of whether talaq and other practices are un constitutional.
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"In a Muslim society which practices talaq, women have no existence," says Farha, who adheres to the local custom of only using one name.
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"I promise to you that a Congress government will come to power in 2019 and we will scrap this triple talaq law," she said.
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Muhammad V's father, Sultan Ismail Petra, also divorced his wife using the triple talaq method in 2010, according to a report by The Star.
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Some Indian Muslim groups have said triple talaq is wrong, but believe the practice should be reviewed by community leaders rather than the government.
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The other concerns the right of Muslim men to divorce their wives by uttering the word "talaq" ("I divorce you" in Arabic) three times.
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A survey by BMMA last year showed more than 90 percent of Muslim women want to end the "triple talaq" divorce tradition and polygamy.
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While traditionally done in person, in recent years men in India have issued their "triple talaq" decrees over email, WhatsApp, and even on postcards.
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"The women didn't come out, and I was told subsequently, that the reason they didn't was because they believed in stopping triple talaq," he said.
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The law, known as "triple talaq," has already been outlawed in 22 Muslim-majority countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh, and ultra-conservative countries like Saudi Arabia.
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In recent years, the movement against triple talaq has picked up and India's Supreme Court is due to begin ruling on its constitutionality later this month.
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"It is true that Muslims can't trust him (Modi) after the Gujarat riots, but triple talaq is a separate issue," Soman said in a telephone interview.
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Opponents fear that a ban against triple talaq will start an erosion of their religious rights and lead to the passing of a Uniform Civil Code.
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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu-nationalist grassroots movement that backs Modi and the BJP, chronicled hundreds of cases of triple talaq in a recent report.
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Muslim women in India have demanded a ban to triple talaq with several women petitioning the nation's top court, the Supreme Court, to overturn the practice.
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The practice, that stretches back over a thousand years, allows a husband to divorce his wife by simply saying the Arabic word for divorce, talaq, three times.
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The country criminalized the ancient Muslim practice of instant divorce, in which men could end a marriage by saying the Arabic word for divorce — "talaq" — three times.
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New Delhi (CNN)Over a million Muslims from across India, the majority of them women, have signed a petition to end the controversial divorce practice of triple talaq.
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On August 22nd the Supreme Court banned "triple talaq", a practice whereby Muslim men could annul their marriage simply by pronouncing the Arabic word for divorce three times.
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The case was filed by five Muslim women who had been divorced through triple talaq, as well as activist groups Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan and the Beebak Collective.
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The validity of triple talaq has long been debated in Islam, and the practice has been banned in many Islamic countries, including like Pakistan, Morocco, Iran, and Bangladesh.
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At the hearing on Thursday, five multi-faith judges of the Supreme Court started to determine whether triple talaq is part of a fundamental religious right for Muslims.
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Noor Jehan from BMMA said they wanted the Supreme Court to rule triple talaq was illegal and unconstitutional, with many women left without support after such a divorce.
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In interviews this month in Uttar Pradesh, many Muslims, men and women, said they were opposed to triple talaq, but voiced conflicted emotions about the prospect of Modi's involvement.
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The Chief Justice of India (CJI) is expected to decide on a petition filed by victims and activists who want the so-called triple talaq law to be abolished.
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More than 90 percent of Muslim women surveyed in 2015 by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which campaigns for women's rights, wanted an end to triple talaq and polygamy.
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In a society where marriage confers both social status and economic security, triple talaq can be immensely damaging, especially as men divorcing their wives aren't required to pay any alimony.
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Thirty-five-year-old Shayara Bano has emerged as the face of the campaign against triple talaq as one of the two individual petitioners in a case—Shayara Bano vs.
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" PM Modi further tweeted: "This is an occasion to salute the remarkable courage of those Muslim women who have suffered great wrongs just due to the practice of Triple Talaq.
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"The instance of triple talaq has continued unabated," Prasad told a news briefing, adding that the government had recorded 201 such divorces after the Supreme Court struck down the law.
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The court in 2017 ruled as unconstitutional a law which allows Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering the word "talaq", which means divorce in Arabic, three times.
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After the president called for an end to verbal divorce—a man must simply say "talaq" (divorce) three times—a council of scholars from al-Azhar deemed the practice perfectly Islamic.
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India has the world's second-largest Muslim population, but, unlike other countries with significant Muslim populations such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, has yet to officially pass legislation outlawing triple talaq.
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Petitions and politics In spite of the opinion of male Muslim leaders, momentum for a triple talaq ban has gradually increased over the years as Muslim women started to speak up.
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The Supreme Court in August last year outlawed the practice that had allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives by simply saying the word "talaq", or "divorce" in Arabic, three times.
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"'Triple talaq' was Modi's new political tool to break up the Muslim vote," said Asaduddin Owaisi, the leader of a Muslim political party, the All-India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen.
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An alleged copy of the couple's divorce certificate has been circulating on social media, listed the separation as a "triple talaq" divorce, according to a report by local broadcaster Astro Awani.
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In August last year, the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional a law that allowed Muslim men to divorce their wives simply by uttering the word "talaq", or "divorce" in Arabic, three times.
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Among the Muslim women whose petitions are before the Supreme Court is Shayara Banu, 35, whose husband divorced her in 2015 by writing the word talaq three times in a letter.
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" In most cases, the report emphasizes, the husband's mindset and actions are dictated by the belief in his "right" to pronounce talaq and part permanently with his wife as "given by Islam.
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"Fail to understand the need to pass the triple talaq bill especially since the Supreme Court had already declared it illegal," tweeted Mehbooba Mufti, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir state.
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A step in the right direction India is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, but unlike most Muslim-majority countries, has been slow to ban triple talaq.
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"Triple talaq happens despite there being no Quranic sanction for it," said the letter, which was signed by members of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), or the India Muslim Women's Movement.
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"If we come to a conclusion that triple talaq is part of (the) fundamental right to religion, we would not interfere," the judges were quoted as saying by The Times of India.
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"This matter is not just about triple talaq but also about the religious sentiments of the minorities of this country," said Arshad Madani, president of the Muslim group Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind.
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New Delhi (CNN)India's Lower House of Parliament has approved a bill criminalizing the controversial Islamic divorce practice known as "triple talaq" and making it punishable with up to three years in prison.
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Campaigners say the "triple talaq" practice - which allows Muslim men an instant divorce with Muslim women being divorced via Facebook, Skype and text message - is unconstitutional because it violates the right to equality.
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Local media said the Supreme Court has set aside six days for the hearing - half for those challenging triple talaq and half in defense - with the hearing expected to end by May 19.
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They aren't advocating the complete erasure of the practice from Islam, but argue that because of the way talaq has been practiced, women need some form of legal recourse when they currently have none.
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India's supreme court ruled on August 22nd to outlaw "triple talaq", a tradition whereby Muslim men could annul a marriage simply by saying "I divorce you" three times (an Indian Muslim bride is pictured).
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Unlike talaq, where a man can arbitrarily exercise his right and declare divorce, a woman needs the intervention of a qazi (a Sharia judge) to ask for a divorce and to give reasons for it.
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Mr Modi has also courted Muslim women by attacking "triple talaq", an arcane tradition long since abandoned in most Muslim-majority countries, which permits a man to divorce simply by saying the word three times.
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The practice of "triple talaq" is banned in most Muslim countries but allowed under India's constitution that lets most religions, including Muslims - the biggest religious minority - regulate matters like marriage and divorce through civil codes.
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That changed last October when the ruling Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) submitted an affidavit to the Supreme Court urging it to abolish triple talaq on the grounds that it impinges on women's fundamental rights.
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India's top court has spent six days examining the legality of the "triple talaq" practice, raising hopes among women campaigners of a long-awaited end to the 'quickie' divorce that can leave women penniless and homeless.
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In person, over the phone, in a letter or even on WhatsApp, Muslim men who repeat talaq — the Arabic word for divorce — three times can instantly end their marriages, according to some interpretations of Islamic law.
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The nation's highest legal advisory body, the Law Commission of India, put out a survey to Indian citizens in October 2016, asking about various ways to reform family laws and specifically whether or not to ban talaq.
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Tahir Mahmood, an academic and critic of Muslim orthodoxy, has talked about the importance of raising awareness of khula, a process that allows Muslim women to initiate divorce and acts as a sort of counterpart to talaq.
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The controversial Islamic practice, where a husband can divorce his wife by mentioning the word "talaq" three times, through a letter or even through a messaging app, was struck down in the courts with a majority decision.
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The All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and argues this is a religious matter and not for the courts.
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Last month, the Supreme Court said it would examine how far it could interfere in Muslim laws, as it heard a plea to end the practice allowing Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying "talaq" three times.
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But the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and argues this is a religious matter and not for the courts.
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"Despite a 397-page judgment from the highest court in the land, 'somehow' is the best answer we have to the question of why triple talaq is no longer law," wrote Prashant Iyengar, a lawyer, in the Hindu, a daily newspaper.
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The organization has been striving to build awareness of the idea that triple talaq is actually a misrepresentation of the Quran and instead promote Quranic tenets on divorce that call for a 90-day period of discussion, dialogue, and arbitration.
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"This 'triple talaq' ordinance basically is to try and win over a segment in the Muslim community, to win the women's vote among the minorities," said Sandeep Shastri, a political analyst at Jain University in the southern city of Bengaluru.
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I originally questioned whether or not the triple talaq is still binding when that happens, but according to the Islamic Council for Meditation and Arbitration, the fact that the words were said in a fit of rage is no excuse.
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"Triple talaq is going on since 1,400 years, how can you say it is unconstitutional?" said Kapil Sibal, the lawyer representing the Muslim law board, who is a Harvard Law School graduate and a former minister of law and justice.
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The government's legislative pipeline could include a bill to stop Muslim men seeking instant divorce, or "triple talaq", and pushing key economic reforms, such as changing labour regulations and rules for land acquisition that have long been demanded by Indian industry.
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"It's important that we recognize that the court has upheld the petitioners and recognized that triple talaq is unconstitutional and not integral to the practice of Islam, which was also an issue in the debates leading up to this case," Agnihotri adds.
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On Tuesday it ruled that a law allowing Muslim men to divorce their wives instantly by uttering the word "talaq" three times was unconstitutional, in a major victory for Muslim women who have spent decades arguing it violated their right to equality.
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NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India on Wednesday prescribed arrests and jail terms for offenders in a campaign to stamp out instant Muslim divorce, or "triple talaq", as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to woo women voters of the South Asian nation's minority community.
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Modi criticized the so-called "triple talaq", that allows a Muslim man to part from his wife by saying "I divorce you" three times, in a speech in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, due to go to the polls next spring.
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NEW DELHI, Sept 19 (Reuters) - India's cabinet has approved an executive order to make instant divorce among Muslims, a procedure called "triple talaq", a punishable offence, a government minister said on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks to woo Muslim women voters.
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Last Monday, in an affidavit filed in court that seemed intended to stave off an unfavorable ruling, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, the conservative nonprofit group fighting to uphold what is known as "triple talaq," promised to discourage the practice.
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There are no official statistics to suggest how widespread the practice of instant divorce is, but the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan study found that among a sample of more than 313,231 women, 215 were divorced and 218 of those were "triple talaq" divorces.
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Lawyer Flavia Agnes, co-founder of the legal center Majlis that works on women's rights, said while the focus was on the practice of triple talaq, the key issue was how women can be helped to ensure they know their economic and legal rights.
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Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in January issued an executive order making the practice - which allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying the word "talaq", or "divorce" in Arabic, three times - an offence punishable with up to three years in jail.
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NEW DELHI (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - India's Supreme Court said it will examine how far it could interfere in Muslim laws governing family-related issues as it heard a plea to end a practice allowing Muslim men to divorce their wives by saying "talaq" three times.
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"Triple talaq is not valid as per the Koran, which stresses mediation and reconciliation before the decision to divorce," said Zakia Soman, co-founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which campaigns for Muslim women's rights and is a co-petitioner in the case.
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In the past five years, Jaitley not only steered through parliament major economic legislation such as a nationwide goods and services tax - which had languished for nearly two decades - but also argued for the government's bid to end the Muslim instant divorce practice known as "triple talaq".
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Watch: Malala on Refugees, Advocacy, and the Girl Power Trip "The women's movement has always believed that triple talaq is arbitrary and unilateral and that it provides the woman with no support or security: It just leaves her high and dry," says Professor Indu Agnihotri, an expert in Indian women's rights.
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Shahid Raza of the Muslim Law Shariah Council UK also said that in cases of extreme anger, when a guy's lost control of his senses, a divorce can be declared invalid, but in situations where there the triple talaq is used due to "moderate and normal" anger, it's still valid.
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A separate survey covering 10 other states found last year that 92 percent of Muslim women supported a ban on the immediate triple talaq divorce, raising the possibility that some, in the moment of pushing a voting machine button, might defy their community and choose the space next to the BJP's lotus flower.
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"Thousands of Muslim women have been suffering for long and they will welcome it if the court ends this practice of unilateral divorce," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and argues this is a religious matter and not for the courts.
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