Meet a Muslim Woman Qazi, Nishat Hussain, Breaking stereotypes

At one hand, a Taliban Official is saying, “Women Lose Value If Their Faces Are Visible To Men In Public,” on the other hand in India Muslim woman are slowly walking towards liberation from such patriarchal religious dogmas that forces them to cover up from head to toe like a cargo. Not even cattle but cargo, jaise ko saaman. TOI carried a report by Himanshi Dhawan on one of India’s few women Qazi who is fighting against patriarchy in the Muslim community.

Nishat Hussain lives in Jaipur and have helped Muslim woman in conducting Nikah, talaq and tackle their matrimonial disputes for over 34 years. She studied the Quran and other religious texts as is required to become a Qazi and realized that the male religious leaders have been keeping Muslim woman in the dark.

When you get to know about Nishat’s life and work you also realize that a lot of the regressive patriarchal traditions are still prevalent in Muslim community which discriminates women. Amongst the women who visited Nishat is a woman whose husband placed a bet on his wife and lost her, he then spiked her drink and made her have sex with another man which he later claimed was a matter of talaq and Nikah Halala. With Nishat’s police complaint and consistent follow up with the police the man was arrested.

Nishat Hussain also asserts that despite the practice of triple talaq being banned by law it is still prevalent in Muslim community albeit slightly decreased.

It is often claimed that the Hindutva groups unfairly target the Muslim community on the issues of Muslim personal law and their demands of uniform civil code is an attack on Muslim faith. However, women like Nishat is fighting for Muslim woman’s rights and equality while remaining steadfast on their path.

Several Muslim feminists have also claimed that a proper interpretation of Islam would rather liberate and empower Muslim women but the male leaders of the community have been keeping Muslim women subjugated.

Muslim women are at the lowest rung of the social ladder in terms of their economic and political participation, education and health. It is time we reflect upon whether personal laws and its interpretation is adversely affecting Muslim women denying them the equal rights guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.