New Delhi, May 08: A Delhi court has upheld the validity of divorce given by a Shia Muslim to his wife through another man appointed by him as his agent to pronounce the word ”talaq” in Arabic as he himself could not speak the language.
Additional District Judge Reetesh Singh upheld the legality of the divorce given by Sabir Hussain, saying that Shia Muslim personal law allows a man, unable to speak Arabic, to appoint an agent on his behalf to pronounce the word ”talaq”.
“Respondent Sabir Hussain has duly proved that he had obtained divorce against the appellant (Mumtaz) as prescribed under Shia Muslim Law,” the judge said.
The judge gave his verdict dismissing the plea of Sabir”s wife Mumtaz, who had contended that to secure divorce under the Shia Muslim Law, ”talaq” should be pronounced only in Arabic by the husband himself while her husband Sabir could not speak Arabic.
The court said that even as Sabir could not speak Arabic, he, as per the law, had engaged the services of an agent well versed in Arabic language to pronounce ”talaq” on his behalf.
Sabir was married to Mumtaz in 1992. Both were residing in Brahmpuri in northeast Delhi and have two sons and a daughter.
In 2005, Sabir divorced Mumtaz alleging that she treated him cruelly and kept calling police while making bogus allegations against him and his family. A certificate of divorce was issued by Mansabia Arabic College, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh.
Mumtaz moved the trial court contending that since no notice was served intimating her of the divorce, the same was not valid under the Muslim Shia law. The trial court, however, dismissed her plea.
She appealed in the district court and submitted that the requirement for a valid divorce under the Shia Muslim Law was that it should be pronounced only in Arabic by the husband while Sabir could not speak the language.
In his evidence, Sabir stated that he could read Arabic but was not able to speak the language and so he had appointed an agent holding a degree of Fazil to pronounce divorce on his behalf.
The agent also deposed in the court that he had pronounced divorce to Mumtaz on Sabir”s behalf. The two independent witnesses also identified their signatures on the divorce certificate before the court.
The court noted the fact that under the Shia law, if the husband is not conversant with Arabic, he can engage the services of agent to pronounce the same on his behalf in presence of two witnesses.
———PTI