No ‘substantial change’ in Sharia Law under UCC: Law Commission assures AIMPLB
Law Commission of India that no “substantial change” that could alter the basic features of the Sharia law will be suggested to the government in drafting of a proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC), the AIMPLB said on Thursday.
A delegation of the Muslim body led by its president Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani on Wednesday met the chairman of the Law Commission, Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, who wished to seek the board's opinion on the UCC as well as its views on certain issues related to the Muslim personal law. While conveying to Awasthi that the UCC was “unacceptable” to Muslims, Rahmani explained that the Sharia was composed of two components – one based on the Quran and Sunna (Prophet's words and actions) and another, the Ijtehad, on the Islamic scholars’ opinions.
AIMPLB also said that the chairman of the commission raised some specific questions on the personal law – such as whether there was specific age prescribed for marriage in Islam, position of the AIMPLB on Nikah-eHalala and Muta marriage as well as its views on gender justice – on which the board explained its stance.
“The chairman assured the delegation that they are not going to suggest any substantial change which may alter the basic features of Sharia Law.
Their role is just to make suggestions. It is on the government to finalise the bill and put it in the Parliament for discussion and approval," said the AIMPLB.
