Islamic Custom ‘Nikah Halala’ Practices Sexual and Financial Exploitation of Women

• Another Islamic custom called Nikah Halala has come under criticism in the media
• The custom is said to practice financial and sexual exploitation of women
• Through Nikah Halala, a woman can remarry her ex-husband after marrying another man and spending a night with him

August 20, 2017: At a time when the customary practices of Islam are questioned worldwide and triple talaq is a contentious issue in the country, another Islamic custom, called Nikah Halala, has made it to the spotlights from the media.

It was a sting operation done by India Today that revealed to the country this shocking practice in the Islamic world. Divorced women are taken advantage of in return for Nikah Halala, the tradition which lets a woman remarry her husband.

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The Islamic scholars and maulanas extort money from the divorced women.

It should be noted that Nikah Halala does not feature anywhere in the Shariah or the Quran. These are constructions of religious leaders to benefit themselves by fooling innocent people.

This is what the Maulanas preach as Nikah Halala.

In order for a divorced woman to marry her ex-husband again, she has to marry another man, spend one night with him, then divorce him the next day. This will "allow" the divorced woman to remarry.

Nikah Halala, hence, is the practice imposed on the woman of marrying another man for a night. Why this practice is absolutely derogatory and absurd is thus obvious. This idea coming from the religious scholars and maulanas who have all the power to influence people in masses is dangerous to the well-being of the Islamic community.

These maualans have distorted what Islam says about divorce. The period of Iddah which is the phase of man and woman living separately before the divorce has been preached differently to exploit women sexually and financially.

Over time, the marriage in the Nikah Halala has been skipped and only one night stands are made permissible to get a quick acceptance for remarriage.

The maulanas have very cunningly taken advantage of women who would do and believe anything to save their marriage from havoc. The Muslim woman makes the choice of spending a night with a total stranger than inviting criticism and remarks on her family from her neighbours and community.

Muslim women also rank low on literacy rate and hence it is usually a terrible thought for them to leave their husbands and survive alone.

But with the Sting Operation showing that such practices have taken place, it is now time for the government to act. Solid actions need to be adopted by the government to save the girls of the country from these monsters operating in the name of religion.

– Prepared by Saksham Narula of NewsGram. Twitter: @Saksham2394