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| Indian court rules against instant divorce | Indian court rules against instant divorce |
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| India's top court has ruled the practice of instant divorce in Islam unconstitutional, marking a major victory for women's rights activists. | India's top court has ruled the practice of instant divorce in Islam unconstitutional, marking a major victory for women's rights activists. |
| In a 3-2 majority verdict, the Supreme Court said legislation must follow. | |
| India is one of a handful of countries where a Muslim man can divorce his wife in minutes by saying the word talaq (divorce) three times. | India is one of a handful of countries where a Muslim man can divorce his wife in minutes by saying the word talaq (divorce) three times. |
| The landmark court decision came after petitions challenging the so-called "triple talaq" custom were filed. | |
| The cases were filed by five Muslim women who had been divorced this way and two rights groups. | The cases were filed by five Muslim women who had been divorced this way and two rights groups. |
| Three of the judges called the controversial practice "unIslamic, arbitrary and unconstitutional". The court has also asked parliament to legislate on the issue. | |
| "Muslim women in India have suffered for the last 70 years. It's a historic day for us, but it doesn't end here. I cannot tell you how much Indian women have supported us, despite their religions," Zakia Soman, a women's rights activist, from Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan, one of the organisations who contested the practice, told reporters. | |
| Even though it has been practised for decades, the unilateral instant "triple talaq" divorce has no mention in Sharia or the Koran. | |
| Islamic scholars say the Koran clearly spells out how to issue a divorce - it has to be spread over three months which allows a couple time for reflection and reconciliation. | |
| Activists say most Islamic countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh, have banned triple talaq, but the custom was thriving in India. | |
| In recent years, many cases emerged of Muslim men in India divorcing their wives by issuing the so-called triple talaq by letter, telephone, and increasingly by text message, WhatsApp, and Skype. A number of these cases made their way to the courts as women contested the custom. | |
| India does not have a uniform set of laws on marriage and divorce that applies to every citizen. |