They may say it is all about scriptural correctness. In practice, it is about the denial of human rights. The mullah as the supreme arbiter of choices and aspirations is staging a comeback, further expanding the religious ghettos. His fatwas, which are now coming in alarming frequency, are in direct conflict with the constitutional spirit of the republic. The man with the Book wants to claim complete copyright to the conscience of the faithful.

VEILED THREAT : Islamic seminaries, Deoband in particular, are becoming controversial

The revival began with Imrana, the woman who was sentenced to marry her father-in-law who allegedly raped her. Imrana, punished for being a victim, came to shock the nation two decades after the Shah Bano case. As Imrana began to fade from the news pages, another fatwa came from the Darul Uloom at Deoband, the most prominent school of Islamic orthodoxy which can also claim the spiritual parentage of the Taliban. It decreed last week that Muslim women should not contest polls, and if they did, they should be in purdah (veil). The political fatwa was issued barely a day after a two-member bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice C.K. Thakker, issued notices on the parallel Islamic judicial system. Though the vice-chancellor of the Deoband seminary, Maulana Marghoob-ur-Rahman, clarified that there would be no more fatwas on matters not directly related to the Shariat (Islamic laws), the dictatorship of mullahdom seems to be gaining strength, deepening fear within and outside the community.

SCREENED PRESENCE: The fatwas are clearly skewed against women

A visibly agitated Shaista Ambar of the All Indian Muslim Women Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB) retorted: "Muslims have rejected the fatwa on elections. Even Prophet Mohammed had allowed women to join the war along with men. Who are these mullahs to issue fatwas like this? Why are such seminaries targeting women, when women in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Indonesia and other Islamic countries are contesting elections and acquiring the highest positions in society?"

Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj concurred. The edicts issued by the religious groups have no significance under the Constitution, he said, while CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury reminded the mullahs that the Constitution has given equal rights to women and "we will not let this right be infringed".

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), which faced opposition from within on the issue of the fatwas, was also quick to dissociate itself from them. The organisation, which represents all sects and schools of thought, came into prominence during the Shah Bano case. It led the ulemas (scholars) who forced the Rajiv Gandhi government in 1986 to defy the Supreme Court's order on maintenance to be paid to a divorced wife through an amendment in the Criminal Procedure Code. Now, on being taken to task by the apex court on the parallel judicial system in the name of Darul Qaza (the court of qazi), the organisation is finding itself on the defensive.

The Darul Uloom, which has also been questioned by the Supreme Court, is in a conciliatory mode as well. Faced with the perception that seminaries like the one at Deoband want to push the community into medievalism, the Darul Uloom, in a belated damage-control exercise, said it was only explaining how women should dress and conduct themselves in public under the Shariat. But as Ambar says, "We will not allow anybody to take away women's political and democratic rights in the name of Shariat."

INTERVIEW | SHAISTA AMBAR "Mullahs are like religious quacks" Shaista Ambar, President of AIMWPLB, created a stir by saying the AIMPLB was ignoring Muslim women. Excerpts from her interview with Senior Editor Farzand Ahmed. Q. What do you think about the growing mullahism? A. Politics has overpowered maulviat. Everybody wants the politicians to come and bow their heads before them. Q. What about the fatwa in the Imrana case? A. The Quran says a woman can raise her voice against injustice, but an illiterate woman in purdah without any knowledge of religion has no alternative but to accept what the maulvi says. Q. What is the maulvis' role? A. There is a difference between a scholar and a mullah. Mullahs are like religious quacks who show off their knowledge to mislead Muslims. Q. What has been the impact of the AIMWPLB? A. It has become the voice of helpless Muslim women. In a short period it has created an awakening among Muslim women. The Shariat court organised by the AIMWPLB is receiving a tremendous response.    INTERVIEW | TAUQUIR KHAN "Fatwa was issued in a hurry" Maulana Tauquir Raza Khan, the firebrand spiritual head of the Barelvi school of thought, spoke on the recent fatwas and their implications. Excerpts: Q. What do you think of the recent fatwas? A. Some irresponsible ulemas played into the hands of anti-Islamic forces without realising that these forces project an individual's mistake as the mistake of the society. The Imrana fatwa was given in a hurry without proper thought. Q. Do you believe in purdah? A. Islam is not against women's rights or liberty, but it is against shamelessness. Q. Wasn't Imrana's punishment one-sided? A. The allegation should have been investigated properly and wrongdoers should have been punished severely. The Shariat laws cannot be changed but the fatwa was issued thoughtlessly. Q. Is mullahism on the rise? A. It is not true, but knowledge about Islam should be acquired. Everybody cannot issue a fatwa. Likewise, a panchayat's decision can't be considered that of Shariat.

Earlier, the Darul Uloom had issued another edict, asking Muslims to boycott soft drinks and other items produced by US companies in the wake of the American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq. Established on May 30, 1866, the Deoband madarsa enrols about 1,000 students every year and conducts rigorous courses in the Quran, Hadis and Islamic jurisprudence, followed by a one-year specialised course at Darul Ifta that produces muftis, the men who are qualified to issue fatwas.

MAN'S WORLD: A class in progress at a Darul Uloom class in Lucknow

A fatwa is nothing more than an opinion of a mufti, says Maulana Mahmood Madani, general secretary of Jamat-ul-Ulema Hind. "A fatwa can be issued only on religious matters. No one can issue a fatwa on social and political matters," he says. According to Madani, in light of the Shariat, no judgement can be passed till it is proved beyond doubt that a sin has actually been committed.

But considering that under the Islamic law the burden of proving the charge in cases like rape rests with the women, the Imrana case has sparked a debate on the status of women and the justice dispensed by mullahs, muftis and village panchayats. "There is gender injustice in the application of traditional laws, which allows the male partner to go scot-free even if he has committed a rape," says Syed Shahabuddin, an Islamic scholar and president of the Muslim Majlis-e-Mashawarat. "If the woman files a complaint, it is taken as testimony against herself and, therefore, amounts to admission and requires no further evidence, while it is necessary to have four witnesses against the man."

LEGAL TANGLE | ISLAMIC COURTS

Courting Controversy A JUST PRACTICE: A Darul Qaza in Patna But last week, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court put a question mark on the constitutional validity of such courts by sending notices to the AIMPLB, Darul Uloom, Deoband, the Centre and the state governments where such courts exist. The first of its kind in 85 years, the notice followed a public-interest petition by advocate Vishwa Mohan Lochan who demanded an immediate dissolution of all Islamic and Shariat courts functioning as "parallel judicial" systems. The petition was the result of the fatwa by the Darul Uloom in the Imrana rape case, which had not only created a nationwide stir but also aroused suspicions that Islamic seminaries in general and Deoband in particular wanted to Talibanise the Indian Muslim society. The fact is that such seminaries get hundreds of applications every year seeking fatwas on religious or social issues. Alarmed by the court's move, AIMPLB General Secretary Maulana Syed Nizamuddin says, "There is no question of running a parallel judicial system. Such thinking is the result of a misunderstanding." Union Law Minister H.R. Bhardwaj retorts: "There is only one judiciary in India under the chief justice. The Constitution does not recognise Islamic courts." But as AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani was quick to remind, the Darul Qazas draw their existence from the "Shariat Application Act 1937 and Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution". The Muslim Personal Law mentions that "in all questions (relating to marriage, talaq, dower, guardianship ...) the rule of decision in cases where both parties are Muslims shall be the Muslim Personal Law". The controversy comes at a time when the AIMPLB is trying to acquire for Darul Qazas the status of family courts, and seeking an amendment to the Qazi Act 1860, so that the Darul Qazas get the right to look into civil matters as was the case till 1880. But given the current turmoil, it may prove a long wait. -By Farzand Ahmed

"The Darul Uloom and its Darul Ifta simply fell into the trap of anti-Islamic forces and without proper investigation or thought issued a fatwa in an irresponsible manner," says Maulana Tauquir Raza Khan, summing up the conclusions of the recent conference of the AIMPLB (Jadeed), a parallel organisation, at Bareilly. Organised by Khan, the spiritual head of the dominant Barelvi school of thought-Barelvis are practitioners of innovation (bid'ati) and opposed to the Deobandis-the gathering believed that unless the alleged rape by the father-in-law was established through eye witnesses as provided in the Shariat evidence law, the woman could not be considered "haram" for her husband. It was small consolation for 20-year-old Jahan Ara in Assam. Allegedly raped by her father-in-law, a Shariat court in Nagaon declared her "haram" for her husband and she was ordered to get talaq.

HIDDEN POWER: Muslim women are standing up to the fatwa on polls

Despite the raging criticism against mullahs, the Muslim society revolves around them, says Madani. "They are an integral part of the community." But they are also beginning to acquire an intimidating aura. And while Darul Uloom has promised not to issue edicts on political matters, for the fatwa-happy mullahs issues will never be in short supply as long as Imranas and Jahan Aras exist. What is in short supply is dissent within the community.

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