Examined on Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937, Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019, Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936, Indian Christian Marriage Act 1872, Divorce Act 1869, Indian Succession Act 1925. Act 26 of 1937 — makes Muslim personal law the rule of decision for Muslims in the listed matters.
This page is the map of the paper: every syllabus unit, the leading cases with full summaries, and the exam questions the paper actually sets.
Units
- Unit 1 · Sources, Schools, Marriage and Mehr under Muslim Law — Module 1 — Shariat Act 1937; sources and schools; nikah, kinds of marriage, iddat, muta, option of puberty, mehr
- Unit 2 · Dissolution, Maintenance, Parentage, Guardianship and Property under Muslim Law — Module 2 — talaq and its forms, khula, mubarat, DMMA 1939, the 2019 Act; maintenance and the 1986 Act; acknowledgment; guardianship; hiba, pre-emption, wakf
- Unit 3 · Parsi and Christian Marriage and Divorce — Module 3 — Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act 1936; Indian Christian Marriage Act 1872; Divorce Act 1869
- Unit 4 · The Indian Succession Act 1925 — Module 4 — scheme and application; domicile; intestate succession; testamentary succession
Leading cases in this paper
- Ghulam Kubra Bibi v Mohammad Shafi (Peshawar, 1940) — a nikah must be proved, witnesses and all — Unit 1
- Chand Patel v Bismillah Begum (Supreme Court, 2008) — marrying the wife's sister is irregular, not void — Unit 1
- Rashid Ahmad v Anisa Khatun (Privy Council, 1932) — a triple talaq once pronounced is final, whatever the husband meant — Unit 2
- Shamim Ara v State of U.P. (Supreme Court, 2002) — a talaq must be pronounced, for a reason, after an attempt at reconciliation — Unit 2
- Masroor Ahmed v State (Delhi High Court, 2008) — a talaq not communicated is no talaq, and even three pronouncements are one — Unit 1
- Shayara Bano v Union of India (Supreme Court, 2017) — talaq-e-biddat set aside — Unit 2
- Danial Latifi v Union of India (Supreme Court, 2001) — the 1986 Act upheld, and read to protect the divorced wife for life — Unit 2
- Noor Saba Khatoon v Mohd. Quasim (Supreme Court, 1997) — the children's maintenance is their own, not capped at two years — Unit 2
- Yousuf Rawther v Sowramma (Kerala High Court, 1971) — failure to maintain as a breakdown ground, and khula as the wife's gateway — Unit 2
- Itwari v Asghari (Allahabad High Court, 1960) — there is no "Muslim cruelty"; a husband who takes a second wife must explain himself — Unit 2
- Ghulam Sakina v Falak Sher (Lahore High Court, 1950) — the option of puberty survives a child-marriage's "consummation" — Unit 2
- Sir Dinshaw Manockji Petit v Sir Jamsetji Jeejeebhoy (Bombay High Court, 1908) — a Zoroastrian need not be a Parsi
- Lakshmi Sanyal v Sachit Kumar Dhar (Supreme Court, 1972) — the Parts of the Christian Marriage Act are self-contained, and Canon Law supplies the prohibited degrees — Unit 3
- Reynold Rajamani v Union of India (Supreme Court, 1982) — no divorce by mutual consent under the Divorce Act, and no importing English law — Unit 3
- Pragati Varghese v Cyril George Varghese (Bombay High Court, Full Bench, 1997) — the unequal grounds in s. 10 struck down — Unit 3
- John Vallamattom v Union of India (Supreme Court, 2003) — section 118 of the Succession Act struck down — Unit 4
- H. Venkatachala Iyengar v B.N. Thimmajamma (Supreme Court, 1958) — how a will is proved, and what suspicious circumstances do to the burden
- Central Bank of India v Ram Narain (Supreme Court, 1954) — what domicile means: factum and animus
Exam questions
- Family Law I exam question: "A, a Sunni Muslim, married B in 2015.… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "H, a Sunni Muslim, sends his wife W… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "F divorces his wife M by a valid… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "A and B, both Christians, were… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "P, a Parsi, married Q in a civil… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "T, an Indian Christian domiciled in… · 10 marks
- Family Law I exam question: "By a will attested by two witnesses, X,… · 10 marks