An Ex-Muslim's Fight For Inheritance: A Safiya Story (image: x.com/HKupdate)
Alappuzha, Kerala: A petition filed by a Kerala-based woman, Safiya PM is hitting headlines now. A resident of Alappuzha, Safia submitted in the Supreme Court that though born a Muslim, she is now a non-believer and wished to be governed by the Indian Succession Act concerning inheritance rights rather than the Muslim Personal Law (Sharia law). The concern is about protecting civil rights, Safiya says in the petition.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanathan on Tuesday (January 28) asked for the Centre’s stand on Safiya’s petition and file its reply in four weeks.
Safiya PM
Safiya, 51, is an activist and general secretary of “Ex-Muslims of Kerala”, an organisation of individuals who left Islam, and also fighting for the rights of women. She claims that her petition as a pertinent step in the fight for fundamental rights of people who want the state to identify their choice of ‘No Religion, No Caste’ as their identity.
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Safiya’s petition reads, “The practices under Sharia law (Muslim Personal Law) are discriminatory towards Muslim women and violate the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The reason why the petitioner is not following the tenets of Islam is discriminatory practices of Sharia law. It will be a failure of justice if the petitioner is to be governed by Sharia law, even if she officially leaves the religion.”
A person is born Muslim is governed by Shariat law in India and as per this, if a person give up religion, they are excommunicated and were not entitled to any share in the inheritance rights in her parental property, the petition reads. “This is against the fundamental Rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India,” she states in the petition. The extensive application of Shariat law, makes Safiya concerned about the property rights of her only daughter, if she leaves the religion officially.
Safiya, who got divorced 20 years ago has independently raised her daughter, who now is 25-years-old. She said that since she is being born to Muslim parents, her religion was placed Islam in the SSLC book. But she have given up religion and her father UA Muhammed, 71, is a non-believer, non-practising Muslim but he has not officially left the religion.
Muslim Personal Law and Section 58 of the Indian Succession Act
As Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937 poses restrictions regarding her property rights, even if she able to procure a no-religion, no-caste certificate from an authority, there is still a legal vacuum where Safiya will still not been entitled to any inheritance right in her parental property.
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“The petitioner wishes to get a declaration that she shall not be governed by Muslim Personal Law for any of the matters listed in Sections 2 or 3 of the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937… There is a clear vacuum in the statute which can be plugged by judicial interpretation,” the petition read.
Safiya had filed a challenge to Section 58 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925, which particularly excludes Muslims from its ambit. The Section 58 of the provisions dealing with testamentary succession (a succession of a property by a will or testament), applies to all citizens despite religion, except Muslims. Safiya’s petition seeks the Court to address the legal void created by Section 58 which leaves Muslims who forgo their faith unable to fully benefit from the provisions of secular testamentary laws.
(Timeline tried to contact Safiya PM, but she refused to give any remarks on the case due to legal obligations)
