Meerut: Deoband ulemas have slammed Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s film ‘Miyan Kal Aana’ which was screened at the Cannes International Film Festival and touches upon the controversial Halala Law. According to the clerics, the actor who has produced the short film has “no knowledge" of Islamic Sharia. “As such, watching films itself is un-Islamic and on the top of it the facts you are showing in the film are misleading. Halala is there to provide support to a woman who has been divorced. But it is always projected in a wrong way. We condemn the film,” they said.

The 17-minute film directed by directed by Shamas Nawab Siddiqui, the actor’s brother, highlights emotional turmoil that a woman goes through when she is forced to observe Nikah Halala, a practice which stipulates that a Muslim woman wanting to go back to her husband after divorce has to first have sex with another man.

Speaking with TOI, Maulana Nadeem-Ul-Wajidi said, “Halala Nikah’s meaning has been completely twisted and today it is seen as some kind of tool to force woman to sleep with someone else other than her husband. On the contrary, the purpose of Halala is actually to give support to a woman who has been divorced. It actually gives her a right to marry again to anyone except her husband. What is so wrong in that? But some sections and these ill-informed filmmakers just showcase everything in a different light.”

Another mufti, Maulana Arif Qazmi said, “Halala is one of the most misunderstood concepts. Before Prophet Muhammad, marriage used to be a short-term affair, sometimes for even four months. But then the Prophet restructured the entire system and created a system in which marriage was considered to be a permanent affair between a man and a woman. They were not to be separated ever. And, once divorced, man had no right over the woman ever. And, Halala was to help woman to remarry the man of her own choice except the previous husband. But if her new husband died or divorced her, in that case she was allowed to marry her previous husband. Some people have taken its meaning in a completely different direction with the aim to discredit Islam.”

When contacted, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s brother Shamas Nawab Siddiqui told TOI, “These ulemas even criticised the ban on instant triple talaq. There is a message in our film and highlights an evil so rampantly prevalent in our society. I am a resident of rural Muzaffarnagar and I have been a witness to these incidents. I feel this must be brought in front of the world. There are so many maulvis who actually participate in Halala.”