Muslim organizations plan counter-campaigns against proposed amendments to personal laws

Delhi (India), March 9, 2023: Muslim organizations are planning counter campaigns against proposed amendments to succession laws that are part of Muslim personal law in India. The issue gained attention after lawyer C. Shukkur and his wife, Dr. Sheena Shukkur, decided to remarry under the Special Marriage Act to ensure their daughters received equal shares of their property.

The Ithihadu Shubbanil Mujahideen (ISM), the youth wing of the Kerala Nadvathul Mujahideen (KNM), is organizing a program in Kozhikode on March 15 entitled “Inheritance, Sharia, Islam.” Speakers include KNM state president T.P. Abdullakoya Madani, IUML state secretary Dr. M.K. Muneer, KNM secretary Haneef Kayakkodi, ISM president S. Shareef Melethil, N.V. Sakkariyya, and Musthafa Thanveer.

Writer and scholar Musthafa Thanveer argues that the move to amend succession laws has come at a time when there is a push against Muslims and Islam. He suggests that “some secular, liberal, and progressive groups have been co-opted by Hindutva forces.” He adds that “although inheritance laws are an aspect of Islam, they are not the religion in its entirety.” Thanveer claims that the current push to secularize and modernize Islamic laws amounts to a form of violence.

Meanwhile, the Sunni Yuvajana Sangham (SYS), the youth wing of the Kanthapuram faction of Sunnis, is preparing to counter pro-reform groups. Faisal Ahsani Randathani, a Sunni scholar, argues that Islamic laws are divine and logical and do not need amendments. He also contends that women receive a smaller share of ancestral property because they have fewer financial responsibilities than male family members.