Shia Personal Law Board for model nikahnama, faces opposition

Lucknow, May 30 (UNI) All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) has decided to come out with a 'new model nikahnama' for the community, which would emphasise on addressing post-marital problems.

After the much-publicised 'model nikahnama' issued by All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) last year, the AISPLB was mooting the idea of a model nikahnama for Shias.

The board has already initiated the exercise and it would be released at AISPLB annual conference in Mumbai on November 26, Board chairman Maulana Mirza Mohd Athar told newspersons here today.

The 'model nikahnama' draft would be sent to Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani (Iraq) for ratification, he said. After ratification, it would be vetted by Indian Ulema and legal experts before release.

Maulana Athar said while the modalities of Muslim marriage were mentioned in various ways, this 'model nikahnama' would try to minimise the problems often faced by the girls and boys after marriage.

The AISPLB's move, however, has evoked sharp criticism from rival factions who have condemned the move, terming it as a 'futile exercise'.

Athar's arch rival and people's Democratic Front (PDF) chairman Maulana Kalbe Jawad said changes in the present nikahnama could only be done by the Marjai Taqlid (supreme religious authority) and not by a person, who is not even mujtahid (a religious degree from either Iran or Iraq).

Opposing the exercise, Maulana Jawad said there was a concerted drive to work against 'Marjiyat' (the guidelines of supreme religious leaders either in Iran or Iraq).

He said changes, if required, should come from grand religious authority and were not acceptable after having cooked up by local leaders, who have no authority', the PDF chief commented.

Besides, he said Maulana Athar should explain shortcomings in the present document before going ahead with his plan.

Another prominent Shia cleric Agha Roohi Abaqati also condemned the AISPLB exercise as 'futile' saying the present nikahnama was a complete document and had there been any problem, the ulema in the past would have already rectified it.

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