The All India Muslim Personal Law Board vice president Dr Maulana Syed Kalbe Sadiq on Monday said uttering talaq three times does not actually lead to a divorce. “Even if I say triple talaq 300 times, it will not materialise into a divorce,” he said according to the The Times of India.

Sadiq said every utterance of the word “talaq” is made after a gap of one month, during which the man and woman are expected to attempt a reconciliation. “An amendment in the rule is the need of the hour,” he said.

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Sadiq, who was addressing a press conference in Bijnor, urged the government not to interfere with the laws and traditions of the Muslim community. “Muslims will take adequate decision themselves in the favour of the Muslim women, within a year or two,” he said.

The Islamic scholar further said that the AIMPLB had received 3.5 crore forms from Muslim women around the country in favour of Shariyat and triple talaq, reported News18. “The number of women against these [issues] are very less.”

Meanwhile, the Centre on Monday had urged the Supreme Court to declare the Islamic practices of triple talaq, nikal halala and polygamy inconsistent with Muslim women’s fundamental right to life and dignity.

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The Centre had first taken an official stand against triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy on October 7, 2016, when it had told the top court that gender equality was non-negotiable. Its written submissions will be taken up from May 11 by a five-judge vacation bench of the Supreme Court, which has been hearing a number of petitions challenging the validity of the practices.

The AIMPLB had earlier told the Supreme Court that the pleas challenging the practice of triple talaq were not maintainable as the matters did not fall within the realm of the judiciary. “The validity of the rights in one religion can’t be questioned by court. As per the Quran, divorce is essentially undesirable but permissible when needed,” it had said in September last year.