Need For Codification of Islamic Laws | Author: Yashika Chauhan & Co-author: Mohit Mishra | Volume I Issue III |

ABSTRACT

With the majors’ changes in recent times, the judiciary should broaden its arms in the public affairs. From privacy to LGBTQ rights, the citizens see the court as a ray of hope for the basic human rights challenges they face. One of these group of citizens are Muslim community, which has begin to approach the court of various fallacious practices prevalent in the community. One of the achievements to this community came with the judgement of Triple Talaq, which forces the legislature to draft a The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017. But what about the other deficiencies that are still prevalent in the community and violates the basic human rights. Some of these are struck in the long line of cases with Supreme Court and some practises are still continuing in dark corner of the community. From Triple Talaq to Nikah Halala, what is the solution to these individual discriminatory practices? Therefore firstly what we need is an enacted law and then interpretations. This paper takes into consideration various discriminatory practises in the current legal system of Muslims and misuse of various provisions mentioned under the Shariat Application Act. This paper also provides the prospective solutions to establish a code for Muslim laws within the Quranic framework and in the view of the law of the land.

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened”

       – Words of John F Kennedy

For many years now the issue of reforms of personal law has remained problem centric and the setback of Human Rights in Muslim Personal Laws has become a very controversial agenda in itself. It is now time to take the discussion towards complications in understanding, struggle for rights, movements by women and working out solutions on issues like property, inheritance, adoption, polygamy and the rights of Muslim women in matters of Triple Talaq, divorce, maintenance etc.

INTRODUCTION

Literal meaning of ‘Code’ is the act, process and result of arranging in a systematic from. Codification means the act of codifying in the view of law. Therefore, a code is an official document that contains legal texts from a particular branch of law. The umbrella of constitution has secured freedom from any discrimination based on gender or religion and equality, but still various malpractices are prevalent in the society based on heartless conservative culture which stand against the spirit of the constitution. The previous interpretations or ‘ijtihad’ of Quran were restricted by the socio and economic conditions of those times, which should not be forced to be carried by the present and future generations of the Muslim community. As the fact remains that these systems have become extremely patriarchal and systems of injustice and oppression. While recognising the conservative religious voice the democratic state has failed to enable equal representation for all sections of the population especially women. By falsely justifying arbitrary interpretations, women have always been consistently denied their Quranic rights such as Right to divorce, Right of inheritance & property etc. by adducing Shariat.

This study has been carried out within the framework of Constitutional provisions and the rights of people in the Holy Quran. As we can see in the absence of a codified law various customary practices which are divergent from the values and principles of the Quran have emerged.

Not much advantage of Shariat Application Act 1937 can be seen except of the fact that it has brought Muslim Community under one law. As the question of gender justice is left hanging for its interpretation on followers of different schools of thoughts in Islam who continue to apply their own varied understanding/misinterpretation of Sharia. Which has led to various conflicting views on several significant issues especially those related to divorce, which has lead to further rise in patriarchy. Since, several Indian majority/minority communities have codified their personal laws as per religious text, the concern arises about Muslim community that it still continues to lag behind. Although Article 25 gives the right to all including minorities to have personal laws based on respective beliefs of different religious communities. But, under this provision only there should be a gender just reform in the Muslim Personal Law based on the Quranic values of equality and justice in consonance with Article 25. But major complexity is the various interpretation by the Muslim’s jurist and difference in the views of different sects i.e. Shia and Sunni.

Shah bano’s Case has elicit the liberal nationalist dream to establish Uniform Civil Code due to their concern for the religious oppression faced by women, but it can also be seen from the recent Lok Sabha debates on UCC and triple talaq that a blind fear exists in the Muslim community about imposition of Hindu laws in the name of Uniform Civil Code. Whereas, UCC is very flexible and all about having very generalised and common rules & regulations for all citizens of the country. In fact, anywhere it doesn’t talk about enforcement of laws from any particular religion or majoritarianism. As in Hindu Marriage Act, Christian Marriage Act, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, it is the need of the hour for Muslims should be governed by amended and enacted Shariat Act. Taking into consideration the Article 25, uniform civil code seems a difficult job of the legislature but codification, taking into consideration Islamic and constitutional values, is within the hands of the parliament, which can also compensate the need of Uniform Civil Code. Hence, its high time to constitutionalize Islamic Law within the Quranic framework and Sunnah (Practise and teachings of Prophet Muhammad). However, in doing so changing social circumstances should be taken into consideration because Islamic Law is not a static law, it’s a fluid law. Therefore, Muslims should have progressive thinking while considering the codification of Islamic Law.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

What we know as Muslim personal law today, was known as Anglo-Mohammedan law during the British period or simply as Mohammedan law and was legislated by the British. But after independence the terminology changed and was renamed as Muslim personal law instead of the Anglo Mohammedan law in order to abolish its colonial stamp. However, despite the change in terminology the content remained unchanged; this shows that it was just a political act and not a forerunner of Social Change. Whereas in other Muslim countries along with decolonising its name was not enough, they decolonised its content as well. During the colonial period women were not supposed to play an active role in socio political matters, at least among Muslims though there were exception like Biamma (mother of Ali brothers) and many other women who played important role in freedom struggle.^[1]

After the ratification of Muslim Women (protection of Rights on Divorce) Act and Shah Bano Case 1986 the arguments have come to a central position, where majority of identity politics has accelerated which is evident from the weakening of centrist secular parties.

Till now since many years Muslim clergy have taken the responsibility of guarding the Muslim law, upon themselves. Which has resulted in sufferings of Muslim women through an untold misery. The time has come now for liberal intellectuals of the Muslim community to take the onus of reforms and change.

MISINTERPRETATION OF ISLAMIC LAW

Condition of Sharia Courts [Justice]

Shariat or Islamic law is man-made, it’s a false conviction that Shariat is divine. In the veil of protection of such divine Shariat, a convenient pretext is made to continue unjust practices. There are two main sects among the Muslims- the Sunnis and the Shia and both the sects are further subdivided into further sects of jurisprudence. All the groups are governed by their jamaat’s understanding and interpretation of Shariat which has one thing in common that they are extremely patriarchal. This Act does not clearly states what the Muslim Personal Law is. There is no codification for Muslim Personal Law. There are multiple effectuating agencies that dispense justice in Muslim community like Quazis, Muftis (religious clerics), Jamaats (sect arbitration councils), Shariat Courts, which also take up debilitate issues such as family justice.

The Shariat Application Act 1937 simply states that all Muslims should be governed by Shariat. It doesn’t states anything any further or gives directions or provisions for its implementation. Therefore in practise, followers from various schools of thought have applied their own understanding leading to several conflicting views especially those consisting family matters.

Very often their injunctions of the Shariat are in violation of the Holy Quran which is evident from the widespread incidences of triple talaq. This can hardly be said to be based on the principle of the Quranic injunctions. It is seen that their judgements are rarely in line with the Indian Constitutional values of equality and justice. These bodies are mostly approached by men as most of them are not women friendly. They are in close touch with the Muslim community and are easily accessible to them compared to court structures, which costs high, not easily accessible and are time consuming. In Spite of being easily accessible they are dominated by men who have adopted conservative, patriarchal and anti-women interpretations of the religious texts. These are the men who arbitrate and settle disputes, which often undermines and neglect the interests of women. Due to various restraints Muslim women are bound to approach Shariat courts which are running as per subjective understanding of the Holy Quran and Shariat whereas men/relatives find it favourable to them because a women’s questions are always subsumed under the larger interest of the community. Legal marginalisation and discrimination against women while practising Shariat in the absence of a comprehensive codified personal law has led to Muslim women suffering in matters of alimony, custody of children, property, etc. Ironically Shariat courts are considered to be the best place to seek justice by men and family members but women are barred from approaching these courts if she demands for her rights. This gives us a distinct picture of Shariat Courts that most of these tend to dispense justice in one sided manner, hence are preferred by men.

However, various ground level incidences have witnessed women approaching family courts and other local State run legal structures but they fail to get monetary help to pursue their case ahead through legal mechanism due to poor economic condition or lack of apt resources.

It is evident that no effort is been made from the community or the state to make the Muslim family law more comprehensive. Muslim law is piecemeal and disjointed still there is no existence of reviewing machinery to monitor extra judicial bodies for dispensing justice which are male dominated. A Muslim women forever deals with the issues of gender justice and bear the burden of popular misinterpretations of religious tenets, as a result they have no law and no place to seek justice.

Role of Nikahnama

Nikahnama is a written document and an official contract under Muslim Family Law Ordinance 1961 as an evidence in court, which needs to be signed and later registered under the local Union Council Registrar according to the law of the State.The value of nikah cannot be determined as of religious importance as it’s not a sacred contract rather it works as a business contract. Any special conditions which are not in contradiction to Sharia or the State law can be added to the Nikahnama under clause-17 from monthly maintenance, amount of mehr, Right to Khula, whether the woman will continue working after marriage etc. just like any other contract. In the form of nikah, it ensures complete protection of the women in all matrimonial affairs if all the columns are filled with honesty and in knowledge of the women. Especially the clauses from 13-22 are completely in favour of women which talks about dowry, maintenance, banning on second marriage and delegating the powers of divorce. Our ground study reveals that most of the women have not even read the nikahnama before signing it. Whereas, in most of the cases these important clauses are left blank or crossed by the quazis as the women are ignorant or unaware about their rights. It is seen that the quazis are ignorant and behave arbitrarily about the law and don’t bother to inform the family members of the bride about these facts and terms & conditions of the marriage.

Misinterpretation of Islamic Law takes places under various provisions of Shariat which either require the governance of the state laws or can be avoided by strictly following the provisions mentioned under the nikahnama for women’s assistance to some extent as mentioned below:

●       Divorce

Since marriage is a contract- the conditions of the marriage must be filled requisitely in nikahnama, whereas it’s left blank or marked nil. Clause 18 of nikahnama talks about whether the groom has delegated powers of divorce to the bride or if not delegated these powers then on what conditions. During marriage women are ignorant about any such provisions and when she seeks divorce due to faulty marriage she is never entertained by the quazi or maulana officiating the marriage because they deem it unnecessary since woman always retain her right in the name of khula as there is no machinery to cross check their unjust and autocratic behaviour. Infact khula is conditional and not exactly the same as the right to divorce granted to men. To obtain khula woman initiates dissolution of marriage in Sharia court, prepare a case and then qadi (judge) will decide if khula will be granted or not for which she has to forgo her amount of mehr, wedding gifts, alimony and maintenance. If husband refuses to give consent to divorce a woman has to approach third party for mediation such as imams or in Sharia courts the qadi (judge) may annul the marriage (faskh) to substitute the husband.

Therefore, to practise her rights, under clause 19 of nikahnama a women shall include her right to divorce and impose conditions for divorce on husband to put restraints from pronouncing unnecessary divorce on pity disputes or little friction in marriage. If a woman is delegated right to divorce, she can simply opt out of marriage without giving up her mehr, using the same legal procedures followed by a man as it will streamline the whole process and the split will take less time.

Now the arbitrators would contradict by stating the fact that DMMA (Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act) 1939 was passed for women to seek dissolution of marriage. But DMMA actually didn’t serve the purpose of providing legal means for women to free herself from a diabolical marriage. This Act failed completely to counter insensitivity of men towards giving divorce without any second thought.

Hence arises the question that why DMMA 1939 was brought into existence? The right to divorce was absolutely in the hands of the men which could be exercised according their own will. Thus to rectify this condition instances happened where women converted to other religions as they had no other option. This made Muslim leaders and imams worry about the conversion as it would have direct effect on their population. And this made the DMMA 1939 passed and applicable to all women of all sects despite their diversity for providing dissolution of marriage on nine grounds, without witnessing any agitations from the Muslim community. This also shows that uniform codification is practicable if a common consensus exists between the communities.

Today a Muslim woman is entitled to obtain a dictum from the court for dissolution of her marriage only if:

1.                  Husband has failed to provide her maintenance for a duration of 2 years

2.                  Whereabouts of the husband have not been known for a period of 4 years

Now here, the question arises that why a woman is bound to wait for a period of 2 years to file a case if her husband has neglected her maintenance even for once? Why is she made to wait for a period of long 4 years to approach the court to claim her maintenance or remarry? Hence, she’s kept under shadow and there exists no provision for women as how will she manage her family due to such ambiguous law.

It is evident that now Nikahnama has been turned into just a formality contract whereas in fact it’s a legal document through which an aware and confident women can stipulate her conditions prior to the marriage to ensure her safety and security. As this document is not just a guide for married life it can also help to make right decisions and sort disputes between the two parties in case of discord. If all the clauses are filled vigilantly by the bride keeping their rights in mind and cautiously keeping all the documents, then 99% of the rights of the women in matrimonial life can be secured.

●       Mehr

Mehr is the possessions paid by the groom to the bride at the time of marriage in the form of anything agreed by bride such as money, land, jewellery etc. of any cost since there is no bar on the upper limit of mehr but it should be at least equal to annual income of the husband. As deciding the amount of mehr is an unregulated affair in India and a women has no say in deciding her mehr amount. The requirement of mehr is mentioned in the Holy Quran and Hadith (Actions and words of Prophet as recorded by his companions) at various instances. But practically at the time of nikah the mehr amount is announced and written in the nikahnama under clause 13 but after marriage it’s hardly paid to the wife. There are two types of mehr mentioned under clause 14 of nikahnama ie. Prompt (Moajjal) where mehr is given immediately at the time of nikah or Deferred (Muwajjal) where after a certain time period or after the death of husband, which is fixed in the contract by the will of husband or his family. It has now become a prevailing practice encouraged by imams and quazi that mehr is generally paid at the time of divorce and that too when the divorce is given by husband or if she becomes a widow, in case she demands for khula she has to forgo her mehr. Such acts by Muslim imams promotes patriarchy further in the community and is complete injustice to a women as she is already dealing with her troubled marriage. In Fact there is no way to prove in Sharia Courts that husband has not paid fixed mehr.

Now the question arises that if mehr is one of the components for the consideration of marriage, then how can that marriage be formalized without this provision. This is because women are themselves unaware of the empowering provisions of their own law. Most commonly Rs 786 is given to the bride as just a formality of giving mehr. The behind arriving at this amount is not known as it just represents Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim. It is evident that due to no written laws such a historical provision for affirmative action of women’s financial security is being adulterated in this manner and the historical approach towards establishing bride’s financial freedom is being misused and has lost its true essence.

●       Polygamy

In Holy Quran Surah al- Nissa’ Ayaat 3 it is said:

“If you fear that you might not treat the orphans justly, then marry the women that seem good to you: two, or three, or four. If you fear that you will not be able to treat them justly, then marry (only) one,This will make it more likely that you will avoid injustice”.

It was written in the context and social milieu of seventh century in Arabia to provide care and support to the large number of widows and orphans who lost their husbands and fathers in the battle of Uhud situated near Medina. The battle was fought with the inhabitants of Mecca. This verse was delivered to the guardians of such females to treat the orphans justly or if required for more care and protection, marry outside their guardianship. Hence, polygamy was allowed for the welfare of women and children left behind after the battle.

It’s a common perception that Muslims can practise polygamy with no restriction whereas, according to Quran there are lots of bindings. If a man is physically and financially unable to handle more than one wife he should not marry another. All the wives should be treated with equality and kindness. If a man fears to do complete justice with all the wives, then he should feel content by marrying only one.

Clause 20-21 of nikahnama gives detailed view of conditions on man’s right to contract further marriage while having the initial wife. It states that if a Muslim man is already married, he should show that he has obtained permission from the Union Council Registrar to marry another women which in turn requires the proof of the permission from existing wife/wives. But, In case if the former wife has not given her blessing or permission still his second marriage will ‘not’ be invalidated. As marriage is a legal contract in Islam the bride should include a condition of monogamy in nikahnama, this will make the second marriage as breach of contract. At the same time provisions of 494 and 495 IPC will be applied to a female Muslim if she marry second time during the subsistence of first marriage. When there is punishment to contract second marriage without permission then why a Muslim women is not empowered to file a case against the husband? Hence, this contract is just a piece of paper for a woman if she doesn’t get her rights included in it before signing it.

●       Maintenance

Under Muslim Law women are always assessed to be reliant on men as men are the most superior, thus it becomes a liability on the husband to provide maintenance to his wife throughout the marriage and even after divorce only till the period of iddat (period of three menstrual courses or three lunar months). And, Sharia Law states that the quantum of maintenance should be decided by the Sharia courts considering the income of the husband and requirements of the wife. According to Hanafi school of law the rights of the wife to seek maintenance during the marriage is absolute but limited after divorce. Therefore, if after the iddat period Muslim wife has no means to maintain herself, then the husband has no liability to pay her and she is left with nothing.

Due to increased controversy against Shah Bano^[2] judgement becomes a brainchild for Muslim divorce through Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce Act) 1986 passed by the parliament. This act vaguely mentions that after the iddat period Muslim women can seek maintenance from Wakf Board or relatives of her husband, without any clarification and nothing else is clearly stated in it. Though, the legislature has enacted an act in their favour but due to lack of clarity it gives no direction to the wives and their condition still remains the same.

●       Child Custody

Child custody holds the supreme importance, not only for the particular community but for the society as a whole. It cannot be neglected, tilted or taken for granted. Therefore it becomes necessary to know the status quo of child custody in Islamic laws. According to Sharia law, custody of minor child or Hizanat shows patriarchal biases as the father is created as a natural guardian of                             children for both son and daughter. Although some cherry on the top is given to the mother where                          she is entitled to the custody till the son attains the age of 7yrs and till puberty, in case of daughter. According to section 7 of Guardians and Wards Act the personal law of the parties should be taken into consideration while deciding the custody of the child. But since the welfare of the child is of supreme importance hence, should not be overruled by the personal law. Therefore, Child maintenance should not be struck between gender biasness. The welfare of the child must be the deciding factor while deciding the custody.

PERSONAL LAWS AND ARTICLE 13

Benjamin Franklin once quotes that “The Constitution only gives people right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.” It beautifully describes the role of Constitution and citizens. But what happens when same Constitution act as a deterrence to citizen’s happiness. This situation is felt in India by the Muslim people, who are governed by uncodified Muslim personal law. Therefore it becomes important to know the legal technicalities that bar these laws to judge on the touchstone of Fundamental rights.

Now Article 13 of Indian Constitution becomes more important as it provides the definition of law, which cannot be derogated from Fundamental rights. Firstly it becomes important to know the implication of personal law not been a law under Article 13. Let’s take into consideration that if two Muslim get into quarrel with each other, then there is law which they can approach i.e. Shariat act but they cannot approach High Court or Supreme Court to test it constitutionality on the touchstone of fundamental right since it’s not a law under Article 13. The Court in Narsu Appi v State of Bombay^[3] stated that, the expression “laws in force” used in Art- 13(1) is in my opinion, not in that general sense. This expression refers to what may compendiously be described as statutory laws. There is no doubt that laws which are included in this expression must have been passed or made by a Legislature or other competent authority, and unless this test is satisfied it would not be legitimate to include in this expression in the personal laws merely on the ground that they are administered by Courts in India.” It is often considered the personal laws, if not legally backed like Hindu Law, are given by the god and are belief followed by the people. Ameer Ali, famous judge and jurist, rightly pointed out:

“The Mohammedan Law is found essentially in the Quran. It contains the fundamental principles which regulate various relations of life; the religious, civil, and criminal laws which provide for the continuance of the body politics and social economy. The absence of a systematic arrangement, which has frequently been considered as its greatest defect, is explained by the circumstance that the Code was gradually built up during the lifetime of the Prophet. The moral principles and the legal rules, which make up the work, were enunciated, not simultaneously as a completed Code of Law, but in accordance with the exigencies of the moment and the requirements of each special case.” ^[4]

From above quoted statement it becomes clear that what we need is a systematic arrangement of Muslims personal laws. The legislature is obligated to treat all its citizen with proper enacted law taking into consideration its needs and welfare. Same approach and intention of legislature was required in Hindu laws. As Hindu laws has been drafted and enacted in parliament, it can be judged on the ground of Fundamental rights.

In Maharshi Avdhesh v. Union of India^[5], the question before the two-judge Bench was whether Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act is discriminatory on the grounds of  Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution or not. Much shockingly the two judge bench rejected, taking into view that these are to be dealt by legislature. The bench also stated that even the codified personal law cannot be judged with Part III of Indian constitution. Without any valid reasoning, the bench made big statement. If so is the case then any personal law (codified or uncodified) either of Hindu or Muslim should be ruled by their ullamas and priests with arbitrary power in hand.  But contrary intention was shown in Daniel Latifi’s Case^[6] where Supreme Court accepted the petition and judged the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act on the touchstone of fundamental rights.

Therefore it becomes important to know the stand of the Supreme Court on this issue through the most recent case of Ahmedabad Women Action Group & Ors. v. Union of India^[7]. In this case various discriminatory practices of the various personal laws (both codified and uncodified) was challenged. To the much shock three judge Bench helplessly shifted the eyes on legislature stating that the matter concerned requires legislative action. Correspondingly to the earlier decisions, judiciary in this case also did not state any independent reasons. The approach of the Supreme Court is clearly laboring the false impression of judiciary on the public. From the above decisions, the judiciary created an image of a helpless authority on the issue.

Another appealing argument by the government was that Islamic law was a custom. As mentioned in Article 13 (3) that “Law includes any Ordinance, order, bye law, rule, regulation, notification, custom or usages having in the territory of India under the force of law.” Now it has become important to know that whether the personal law is included in the definition of custom or usages of the Article 13(3). For this purpose Narasu Appa’s case becomes the most landmark case as bench perfectly explained the matter concerned. Chief Justice Chagla, has pointed out, “Custom and usage is deviation from personal law and is not personal itself’’. According to Sir C.K. Allen, the elementary and unvarying characteristic of custom is that, – every custom is in some fundamental respect an exception from the ordinary law of the land.” He further states, “Customs, then, are local variations of the general law. But they must not be more than variations. They can never be set up against a positive rule of statutory law. Sir Hari Singh Gour states that, the term custom in legal parlance has been restricted in its use only to unwritten usage confined to a peculiar class or locality, but when it becomes universal it passes out of the region of custom.” From the above judgement it becomes apparent that personal law and customs are different from each other and personal law cannot be called the subset of customs.

Article 13(3) has itself differentiated the two term as while elucidating the term “law”, the term “personal law” is deliberately avoided while providing the term “custom and usage”. Not only the constitution but the government of India Act 1915, which acted as a model before the Constituent assembly, states in Section 112^[8] while defining ‘law to be administered’, an apparent divergence can be seen between the two i.e. Personal Laws and Customs. Hence, it can be concluded that the term personal law is deliberately excluded while defining the “Law”.

Now why there is specific need of codification of Muslim law in India. Firstly, it becomes important to know the true nature of Personal laws. These laws are jurist given laws. Jurist given law nor enacted by parliament nor given by any god. Similar is the case of Roman laws. But this  comes with the fact that there law comes first then comes the interpretation but in Islamic law it is opposite.  In Islamic laws, interpretation comes first and then comes the law: and who interpret these laws: jurists or ullamas. So what are the disadvantages of these laws? Firstly, the arbitrariness in the laws. India is constitutional democracy and parliament has been created to represent the citizen in law making. The fact that a lot of criticism has been made regarding the true nature and intention of the ullamas or jurists create an environment of wariness in their laws. Most people believe that their decisions are at odds with the group’s welfare scheme and involves one-sided judgement. It is believed that these laws are made for personal benefits and are more often biased.

The major benefits with the parliament enacted laws are they can be reviewed, whereas these personal laws lack the power of review. Also, while the personal are sent for the codification, it will go through various set procedures apart from formal drafting in the Parliament i.e. debates, discussion, scrutiny by committees, and two-tier cross checking system. In contrast, jurists with a particular mindset create a law which is one-sided.

Lastly the instability attached with these laws. There laws are easily overridden for personal gauges. These laws usually are unstable and could be easily changed favouring the particular sect of the community. Whereas Codified Laws are not easily modified as it has to go through various set procedures.

WAY FORWARD

As we have seen above in various family and societal matters the rules as per Islamic Law and the ancient Acts enacted by the legislature stand either vague or misused. This makes us realise the importance and need for the codification of these laws within the Quranic framework which stands valid in the present times. The codification of Islamic Law within the framework of the law of the land will help in reduction of unwritten customs or case laws to statutory form. People from no particular community should be left behind or kept under darkness from and aloof from the world by denying their rights. Hence, peace-harmony and prosperity in the Muslim community can be only achieved when people are given proper education in the schools and their due rights.

Article 13 holds a lot of importance for challenging a petition for Part III of Constitution. Laws which doesn’t comes under Article 13 cannot violate the fundamental rights. We are a constitutional democracy, where constitution is supreme. Therefore we have to accordingly go with the aspect of  the constitution. Hence, for the purpose of Article 13 personal law is not a law, which have a devastating effect in legal aspects. Because if something is not law for the purpose of Article 13, it cannot be cross-checked on the touchstone of Fundamental rights. For example, triple talaq till now was a personal law, but now has become law and therefore now it can be challenged. Enacted Law can be challenged but uncodified Muslim law cannot be challenged. Similarly, Any Amendment i.e. addition or subtraction is not the law for the purpose of article 13 but can be judged on the basis of basic structure.  Not only the amendments, but the judgments of court (including Supreme Court) doesn’t fall within the ambit of Article 13. In Common law, law comes first and interpretation comes afterwards; which is called interpreted laws. It is often said British parliament can do anything expect making man a women and vice-versa. And then comes the job of judiciary to interpret these laws. Therefore it becomes essential to compare both the laws. In Islamic law, interpretation comes first and then comes the law: and who interpret these laws: jurists or ullamas. This shows that jurists comes between god and community.  Therefore it becomes necessary for the legislature to prepare a codified Muslim Act; secondly, to enact this Act in Parliament and the ullamas must sit together and interpret these laws.