Unit 2 of Family Law I (Muslim, Parsi and Christian Law; Indian Succession Act) (syllabus: Module 2 — talaq and its forms, khula, mubarat, DMMA 1939, the 2019 Act; maintenance and the 1986 Act; acknowledgment; guardianship; hiba, pre-emption, wakf). Below: what the unit covers, the provisions it turns on, and the cases an examiner expects you to name.
What this unit covers
- A husband says in his written statement that he divorced his wife years ago. Is the marriage over?
- A husband sends the words talaq talaq talaq by message in a fit of anger. What is the position today?
- Her husband has simply stopped maintaining her. Must she also prove that he was at fault?
- A husband takes a second wife and then sues the first for restitution. Who has to explain what?
- Does a divorced Muslim woman's right against her former husband stop at the end of iddat?
- The 1986 Act pays the mother for the children for two years. Is that all the children get?
- A mother sells her minor child's land while the father is alive. Is the sale good?
- Can a Muslim settle his property on his own descendants and call it a wakf?
- What turns an intended gift into a completed hiba?
Treat that list as a self-test: recite each topic's rule from memory before you open its cases.
Provisions
- Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937, s. s. 2 (dissolution of marriage, including talaq) — the requirements are judge-made
- Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act 2019, s. ss. 2(c), 3 and 4
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, s. s. 2(ii)
- Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act 1939, s. s. 2(viii)
- Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, s. s. 3(1)(a), with s. 4
- Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act 1986, s. s. 3(1)(b), read with s. 144 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023
- Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937, s. s. 2 (guardianship) — the powers of guardians are uncodified; appointment by the court is under the Guardians and Wards Act 1890
- Mussalman Wakf Validating Act 1913, s. the definition of wakf and the validation of the family wakf
- Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act 1937, s. s. 2 (gifts) — the law of hiba is uncodified
Leading cases
- Shamim Ara v State of U.P.
- Shayara Bano v Union of India
- Yousuf Rawther v Sowramma
- Itwari v Asghari
- Danial Latifi v Union of India
- Noor Saba Khatoon v Mohd. Quasim
- Meethiyan v Mohammad Kunju
- Hussaina Bai v Zohara Bai
Full case summaries
- Rashid Ahmad v Anisa Khatun (Privy Council, 1932) — a triple talaq once pronounced is final, whatever the husband meant
- Shamim Ara v State of U.P. (Supreme Court, 2002) — a talaq must be pronounced, for a reason, after an attempt at reconciliation
- Shayara Bano v Union of India (Supreme Court, 2017) — talaq-e-biddat set aside
- Danial Latifi v Union of India (Supreme Court, 2001) — the 1986 Act upheld, and read to protect the divorced wife for life
- Noor Saba Khatoon v Mohd. Quasim (Supreme Court, 1997) — the children's maintenance is their own, not capped at two years
- Yousuf Rawther v Sowramma (Kerala High Court, 1971) — failure to maintain as a breakdown ground, and khula as the wife's gateway
- Itwari v Asghari (Allahabad High Court, 1960) — there is no "Muslim cruelty"; a husband who takes a second wife must explain himself
- Ghulam Sakina v Falak Sher (Lahore High Court, 1950) — the option of puberty survives a child-marriage's "consummation"