Men Turn to Unregulated Sharia Courts for Divorce After Triple-Talaq Ban

The deputy charity commissioner of Mumbai recently deregistered the public trust Mohakkama-E-Sharia Darul Quza Rehmaniya after finding it engaged in illegal activities, including facilitating faske nikah (marriage dissolution). The action stemmed from a complaint by Rizwana Afzal Shaikh, who said the trust, headed by Maulana Abdul Hassain Rahi Kazi, attempted to process a talaq-e-ahsan divorce on her husband’s behalf. Since the 2019 Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriages) Act criminalized triple talaq, many men are avoiding that provision and instead hiring self-appointed Qazis who issue extra-judicial divorce orders for a fee.

Shaikh, who filed restitution of conjugal rights and a domestic-violence case, maintains her marriage is valid and wishes to return home. Legal experts and activists note that the rise of such sharia-court services creates a loophole around the anti-triple-talaq law and highlights the need for codifying Muslim personal law. Mufti Faiyaz Alam Qasmi, appointed by the Muslim-Personal-Law Board, observes that most recent cases involve women seeking khula, while activists argue men’s use of these courts will persist without broader reform.