MUZAFFARNAGAR: The influential Darul Uloom

has issued a fatwa saying that 'arranged' halala is not Islamic and people doing so must be "ashamed" of this. Under halala, a divorced woman has to marry another man and then get a divorce before she can return to her first husband.

Mohammad Usman, a resident of Deoband, asked a question on halala. In answer, a panel of Islamic scholars replied with a fatwa which read, "In divorce cases, some people decide in advance that a woman has to do halala with another man in order to re-marry her earlier husband. This is completely wrong and

Islam

does not like this deed. It is shameful and forbidden under Islamic law."

The clerics also explained women's rights in the fatwa. "If any woman is divorced under triple talaq, she has the right to marry any man excluding her ex-husband. But if the second husband divorces her, she can marry her first husband after an 'iddat; (spending a fixed period of time at home). Forcing such a woman to do halala in order to marry her first husband is forbidden," the fatwa added.

Several cases have been reported from the community of women being coerced to do halala after getting divorce from their husbands.

The fatwa was welcomed by other Islamic scholars and NGOs. Social activist Rehana Adeeb from the NGO Astitva said, "It is good to hear that such a fatwa was passed by

Deoband. It will give the right direction to Muslim society to take the correct stand on this issue."