Last week, the Assam Government quietly repealed the Assam Muslim Marriages and Divorces Registration Act, 1935. Following the decision, Muslim marriage or divorce registration can happen only through the Special Marriage Act. The decision was widely criticised in political circles, but the fact remains that the Muslim personal law, and inevitably, Muslim marriage, divorce, maintenance and inheritance, have been in the public eye in recent years. They have all been the subject of study for academics and authors alike, ranging from Asghar Ali Engineer who analysed the Muslim personal law threadbare through a series of writings to seasoned legal writer Tahir Mahmood whose works on the subject manifest his redoubtable scholarship, and, of course, Salman Khurshid who has never shied away from putting pen to paper when it comes to Muslim issues.
Various options
There are a couple of books by Khurshid which merit abiding attention. In his book, Triple Talaq, Khurshid talks of the possible political repercussions of the Supreme Court verdict in the Shayara Bano versus the Union of India case, popularly called the Triple Talaq judgment.
