Law Commission Member hails Syeda acting 'kazi' to solemnise 'nikah'

New Delhi, Aug 14 (UNI) Member of the Law Commission Tahir Mahmood today hailed a woman kazi--Planning Commission member Syeda Hamid--solemnising nikah as an ''epoch-making event''.

Though the event is being dismissed by the Muslim clergy as an insignificant incident, but it has in effect set a new precedent in modern times, said Dr Mehmood here.

Dr Syeda Hamid had this week solemnised the marriage of Naish Hasan of Lucknow with Imran Ali of Delhi, both of whom are working for Muslim women's rights. Naish is founder of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan. The nikah was peformed on the basis of model nikahnama framed by the BMMA here recently.

''Formal solemnisation of marraige by a kazi is merely a custom and not a legal requirement in Islam, though the custom is nearly universal and the role of kazi is always played by a male.

Therefore, this isolated case of deviation from established traditions has its own social significance,'' the Law Commission Member said.

In fact, he stressed, there was nothing in Islamic law preventing women from performing any of the roles traditionally considered to be monopoly of men--participation in governance, managing community affairs, trusteeship of a religious endowment or playing any role in family matters.

Dr Mahmood said the initiative taken by Dr Hamid and the Muslim couple symbolises the undercurrents of resentment among Muslim women against the unbridled male chauvinism typical of the Muslim society in India, which is surely not only out of tune with modren times but also repugnant to the true Islamic teachings.

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