More than a month after the demise of its president Maulana Rabey Hasani Nadwi, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board is likely to find his successor this weekend. The 251-member body is meeting in Indore to elect the new man to helm the affairs of the Board at a time when a number of cases relating to Muslim personal law are pending before the Supreme Court.
The board’s general secretary Khalid Saifullah Rehmani is said to be the frontrunner to take over from Hasani Nadwi, although other names — including those of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president Arshad Madani and AIMPLB executive council member Mohammed Sufyan Qasmi — have also been floated by various members.
This is the first election to a top AIMPLB position, following the recent deaths of a number of distinguished members, including Hasani Nadwi, Jalaluddin Umri and Zafaryab Jilani.
Madani courts controversy
Mr. Madani was initially thought to be the most likely candidate for the Board’s top spot. However, citing his inconsistent health, the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind president expressed his inability to take over at this crucial time. For the past few years, Mr. Madani has been dogged by dodgy knees and other age-related ailments which have restricted his movement. He recently wrote to the Board urging it to give the reins to somebody younger and more mobile, equipped with a deep knowledge of the Constitution besides Muslim personal law.
Incidentally, Mr. Madani had recently courted controversy with his belligerent criticism of the Congress at the Jamiat conclave in Mumbai where he also asked the party to follow through on its Karnataka Assembly election promise to ban the Bajrang Dal. His demand did not go down well with the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, which expressed its inability to provide security to the proposed AIMPLB public meeting in Indore, citing his statement. Mr. Madani may not attend the weekend’s deliberations.
SC mulls Muslim law cases
Meanwhile, the name of Khalid Rasheed Firangi Mahali was mooted by some members, though he has remained tightlipped on the subject. His relative inexperience counts against him for the top post though he could be in the running for the post of AIMPLB secretary.
That leaves the 67-year-old Mr. Rehmani as the likely successor to Hasani Nadwi. He has the required pedigree and has been associated with the AIMPLB for about four decades, taking on the general secretary’s responsibilities a couple of years ago. He is an expert in Islamic jurisprudence and has been associated with the Islamic Fiqh Academy. There is a strong sentiment among some of the AIMPLB members that, at a time when cases regarding Talaq-e-Hasan, Nikah Halala, polygamy and women’s right to enter a masjid are pending before the top court, it is imperative that the man at the helm of affairs in the Board should be well-versed in Islamic jurisprudence, and be able to present a cohesive case before the legal luminaries as well as the media.
The new president will be elected for a three-year term. However, that is seen as a mere technicality, as almost all the men who have been elected so far have had a long run, their terms usually ending only with their deaths. The Board has hitherto appointed its president through a consensus, and may seek to continue that tradition this time as well.
