Page 210 - DSOC402_SOCIOLOGY_OF_KINSHIP_ENGLISH

Sociology of Kinship

Notes 2. Illa or Vow of Continence: A husband swears by god and takes an Oath that he will abstain
from sexual relations with his wife till four months or more. If he abstains from sexual rela-
tions during this period, then separation takes place.
3. Zihar: When a man compares his wife to a kin, with whom marriage is prohibited, like he
says, You are like my mother, then the wife asks him to do penance. If the husband does
not do so, then, the wife goes to the court to seek justice. The court grants divorce in such a
case.
4. Khula: A wife requests her husband to free her and promises to compensate by returning
the ‘Mehar’ (bride value). If both of them agree, divorce is granted.
5. Mubarat: This kind of separation gets the approval of both, the husband and the wife. In
this case, the wife does not give any money to the husband, unlike Khula. In this kind of
divorce, the wife lives with the husband until the period of ‘Iddat’.
6. Lian: In this case, the husband accuses wife of immorality. The wife denies it and requests
in the court, that either he should withdraw his accusation, or declare, swearing by god,
that the accusation is true. If the husband’s accusation is proved to be untrue the wife gains
the right to separate. If the husband withdraws his accusation, the case is dissolved.
7. Talaq-e-Thafabeez: Here, a wife demands divorce, a right which she gains from her hus-
band, during marriage.

Judicial Divorce

The Shariat Act, 1937 grants a Muslim woman, the right to divorce, in case her husband is
impotent and also if he wrongly accuses his wife of immorality. Apart from this, divorce can
also be granted on the basis of Illa and Zihar.
The Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act came into enforcement in 1939. This Act provides
Muslim women, the right to divorce, on the following grounds:
1. In case, there is no trace of the husband since four years.
2. In case, the husband is unable to support wife since two years.
3. In case, the husband is sentenced to imprisonment of seven years or more.
4. In case, the husband fails to fulfills his marital duties since three years, without any reason.
5. In case, the husband is impotent.
6. In case, the husband is mad.
7. In case, the husband suffers from a sexually transmitted disease or leprosy.
8. In case, the girl had been married by her father on other guardians, “less than the age of
15, and she had no sexual relations during that period; and an application had been filed
against the marriage, before the boy attained the age of 18.
9. In case, the husband tortures his wife.
10. In case, the husband is in contact with characterless women.
11. In case, the husband compels, wife to lead an immoral life.
12. In case, the husband sells the property of his wife or obstructs her right to property.
13. In case, the husband obstructs her religious activities in case there.
14. In case, the husband does not teart equally in case of one more than wives.
15. Any other basis, which according to the Muslim law is acceptable for divorce.

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