Instant Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala are two such practises which are as anti-women as they can get. These two Islamic practices have time and again been criticized by people from around the world. People belonging to the fold of Islam too have raised their voices against these practices and in the recent days have even filed petitions in courts to challenge this practice. Nida Khan, a social activist from Bareilly who is herself a victim of Instant Triple Talaq and halala had openly supported the other victims of the same, an act for which she had drawn rebuke from various sections of her community and from those who wanted women to suffer in silence. Nida Khan had spoken to India Today in July and had informed about a fatwa which was issued against her by the All India Faizan-E-Madina Council, she had said, “A fresh fatwa issued against me by All India Faizan-E-Madina Council says that anyone who chops my hair will be given a cash reward of Rs 11,786. I have also been threatened to attack with stones and have been told to leave the country within 3 days.” The group had also pasted posters asking people to boycott Nida Khan and her family.
In the most recent incident which took place yesterday, some members of her community stopped her father from offering prayers at the Dargah Hazrat Shahdana Wali. Nida’s father Musarafyar Khan went to the Dargah to offer namaz yesterday when he was stopped from offering prayers by the Imam and some other devotees who were present. Her mother who arrived later to offer her prayers was also not spared by the miscreants who wanted the family to be disallowed from praying in the mosque at any cost. Nida Khan arrived at the spot later on with couple of men who managed to take away her father safely, fearing violence and disruption many police vehicles arrived at the scene. This attitude where an Imam or a third party committee can issue a fatwa to exclude a family from the community and stop them from offering prayers at places of worship is indeed shocking. It is difficult to understand that why the government is still letting these committees to carry on with their activities unhindered.
This is not the first time that Nida Khan and her family members have faced opposition from the society. Earlier too she had been discriminated against when she had arrived at the Shahi Jama Masjid in July to offer prayers. It is saddening how her community and society have chosen to side with the religious police which wants to silence all voices against the evil practices carried out by them. Nida Khan went on to add that she had tried to get her rights and had not done anything against the Shariat law of the Muslims. Her fight, she stated, was against her husband and his family and not against members of the Islamic community or Islam in general.
It is shocking how people in the 21st century are still living in the mindset of the old days when a fatwa or an order could make a person be thrown out of a community or village. Places of worship are for one and all and discrimination in that respect should not be allowed for anyone. A mistake which has gone on for too many years is still a mistake, Instant Triple Talaq has been banned in many Islamic countries there is no reason for it to continue in India as well a crusader against these social evils should be portrayed as a champion and not thrown out of the community to fend off alone.