In October the case on criminal nature of Nikah Halala is set to be heard by the supreme court of our India in the backdrop of the case filed by Sameena Begum and Farzana Parveen in the form of PIL. Through this PIL both the petitioner seek annulment of Halala marriage and also polygamy. Thus it becomes important to understand the concept of Nikah Halala.

Nikah Halala is like any other marriage where a woman marries a man and consummates her marriage with him. So question arises how is NIKAH HALALA different from NIKAH? Difference comes in the intention of the marriage. While in NIKAH intention is to stay in the marriage and start a family, in NIKAH HALALA the intention is in a stark contrast. Here, woman marries a man with the intention to seek divorce from him the very next day of consummating her marriage and this arrangement is wholly pre-planned.

To understand the reason behind this, its is rather necessary to understand a concept of HOLY KORAN which dictates that a man can divorce his wife only for a maximum of two times and a third time would mean releasing of his wife from the matrimonial relation. So this mandate acts as a restriction on the husband from creating a life time cycle of marriage-divorce.

Nikah Halala vis-a-vis Triple Talaq
Instant talaq or widely known as Triple talaq was given by many men to their wives in a fit of anger and after sometime when their minds relax and understand the implications of their action they would seek to again take their wives back. Now triple talaq in itself is a divorce pronounced three times and so Koran acts as a hurdle in that man's wish to remarry his wife as now she is discharged from the relation .

Now NIKAH HALALA comes into play. In order to get remarried to their former husband, women enter into Halala marriage , consummates the marriage and seeks divorce the next day.

Halala marriage is nowhere mentioned in Koran or any other Islamic religious text. It is a direct product of Triple Talaq. Such that without Triple Talaq , this very concept is nothing more than a deadwood.

ISSUES WITH HALALA MARRIAGE

1. A woman has to suffer due to the temperamental nature of her husband.
    
2. Fazrana Parveen , the petitioner to this case is also suffering from this as her husband pronounced triple talaq and later decided to accept her back if she undergo HALALA MARRIAGE. Now she is seeking judicial redress. But can every Muslim women in India afford to seek redress given their economic and socially backwardness and unawareness of their basic fundamental rights?
    
3. Sameena Begum , the other petitioner of this PIL, contends that this kind of marriage where often helplessly and unwillingly undergo Halala marriage and has to consummate the marriage amounts to nothing less than Rape. And any such person should be punished who either forces a women to undergo such marriage and he who consummates it should be punished under IPC,1860 for abetment to rape and rape respectively.

Halala Marriage And Islamic Religion

Nowhere in KORAN halala marriage is mentioned. Rather the practice itself stems from TRIPLE TALAQ which is also nowhere found mentioned in holy Koran. Thus, it is evident Islamic law/ religion does not in any way support these two practices. Yet, why a Muslim man insist on such a marriage is an anomaly which is far from a person's understanding.

An interesting aspect of this practice is that it is not at all practiced in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, or in Yemen all Islamic states but is followed in India and the Muslim Protection Of Rights On Marriage Act which was passed to curb the triple talaq menace is silent of halala marriage issue.

Conclusion
In my opinion, Halala marriage is a grave violation of a women's dignity in the name of religion (which itself nowhere supports or mentions such a practise. It is about time that a precedent be created to stop this atrocity against Muslim women now who either for the sake of their children and family or due to their hopeless social situation drink this bitter poison.

Also, there is a need to create a deterrent effect against such marriage and so criminalization of such marriage can be considered. Rest depends upon the hearing of the PIL which is soon to take place.