Muslim Personal Law in India a Select Bibliography 1949-74
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MUSLIM PERSONAL LAW IN INDIA A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY 1949-74 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DEGREE OF Master of Library Science, 1973-74 DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY SCIEVCE, ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH. Ishrat All QureshI ROLL No. 5 ENROLMENT No. C 2282 20 OCT 1987 DS1018 IMH- ti ^' mux^ ^mCTSSDmSi MUSLIM PERSONAL LAW IN INDIA -19I4.9 « i97l<. A SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIRSMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF THE DESIEE OF MASTER .OF LIBRARY SCIENCE, 1973-7^ DEPARTMENT OF LIBRARY SCIENCE, ALIGARH MUSLIM UNIVERSITY, ALIGARH ,^.SHRAT ALI QURESHI Roll No.5 Enrolment Nb.C 2282 «*Z know tbt QUaa of Itlui elaiJi fliullty for tho popular sohools of Mohunodan Lav though thoj noror found it potslbla to dany the thaorotloal peasl^Ultj of a eoqplota Ijtlhad. Z hava triad to azplain tha oauaaa ¥hieh,in my opinion, dataminad tbia attitudo of tlia laaaaibut ainca thinga hcra ehangad and tha world of Ulan is today oonfrontad and affaetad bj nav foroaa sat fraa by tha extraordinary davalopaant of huaan thought in all ita diraetiona, I see no reason why thia attitude should be •aintainad any longer* Did tha foundera of our sehools ever elala finality for their reaaoninga and interpreti^ tionaT Navar* The elaii of tha pxasaat generation of Muslia liberala to raintexprat the foundational legal prineipleay in the light of their ovn ej^arla^oe and the altered eonditlona of aodarn lifs is,in wj opinion, perfectly Justified* Xhe teaehing of the Quran that life is a proeasa of progressiva eraation naeaaaltatas that eaoh generation, guided b&t unhampered by the vork of its predeoessors,should be peraittad to solve its own pxbbleas." ZQ BA L '*W« cannot n»gl«ct or ignoi* th« stupandoits vox^ dont by the aarly jurists but «• cannot b« bound by it; v« must go back to tha original sources 9 th« (^ran and tba Sunna. Sir Syad Ahmad Khan * •••••that prDVld«nM htt dMtiatd IndU to 1M tin li^Mntory in vhieh th« gr««to«t •xptvlMiit of cultural •IQtliitla vlll b« imdeytakM and sttcMttfiilly oo^pl«t«d*** Dr*Zakir BMaln 00ITBIT8 Fligei ZHTBODirCtlOH 1^9 P ABT 0 H B Chapter 1*1 JSUMXC UVtOfiZ01B,80{mCB8 AID DETBLOPMBIX 10 •> 19 Chapter 1*2 mSLBf PBB80BAI. UVl KATOBB AID SB»2FXGABCB 20 » 22 Chapter 1*8 1C78LXN PEB80NAL LAW 2R IKDU 23 • 27 Chapter 1*4 MUSLIN PBR80MAL UVt WXnS TBBHD8 20-31 Chapter 1«B tnriFOBK CI72L OODB 32 « 37 Chapter 1*6 BSFCffiMAXIOR MOTBHERTt A BEYXBir OF LIXERATUBE 38 <" 71 APPSiDIZ BBUOOBAPBT (ff IMPOBTiHT BOQIES AMD PAMPHLETS 72 .. 77 f knt TWO List OF ABBBBVUXJOnS 78 Chapter 2*1 LBt OF PBRI0DIC1L8 dt OOBPOSXXB BO(aQI SOCDMEHTBD 79 • 82 Chapter 2*2 LIBS OF SOBJBCt BBADHfOB USED 83 * 88 Chapter 2*3 BBLIOOBAPB; WSB iBSTBACTS 89-188 Chapter 2.4 iRiasx, 189*208 APPENDICES GLOSSAL OF IMPORTANT TERMS JN ISUHIC UV 209 - 213 BRIEF WHO«S WBO OF IMPORTANT AUTHORS 214 • 216 PART 0 H E References to entries in the BBLIOGRAPIIT in this PART are Indicated in parenthesis. INTBODTJCTIOH Refoms in Mualla personal Lav is one of the burning topics of the day. The problem is important not only fpon the point of 7iev of Muftlias but also froa the national view point. The reasons are not far to seek. The Muslims \>j and large are vehemently opposed to any reforum in their personal law. They consider it as an integral part of their religion and hence sacrosanct and immutable* They feel that any changes in it will have a profound impact on their Islamic way of life to in this country and ultimately lead/an extinction of their cultural idsntity* The political climate in the country since Partition, the growing incidence of communal riots,the wilful neglect on the part of the Government to solve some of the most genuine problems of the Muslim ccxsmunity and the fact that both the secular and communal elements are equally vociferous in demanding a substantial revision of Muslim Personal Law or its total replacement by a uniform civil code have made Muslims on this issue suspicious of the sincerity of even their most trustworthy well* wishers. They have, the re fore, adopted a very rigid and hard line* The whole issue has infact taken a political colour. Even the uleafi who assert that Islamic Fiqh is a dynamic legal 83^tem,invested with an inbuilt mechanism to keep pace with the changing and growing needs of human society,and who also believe that the existing Muslim personal Law in India is not exclusively baaed on the Shariat and that valid and compelling reasons exist to revise it(of course,within the general frame work of the Quran and the sunnah)have joined the x'auks and files of the »fundiDentalists» in opposing any move to rofona Muslin personal IAW, This is clearly evidenced from the resolutions passed at the All-India Musllaj Convention(EoBibay)ir. wnich all sections of the ulema, sunni and >3hia had participated. Thesa resolutions are substantially different froai the resolutions adopted by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind,JaaJiatul Ulema and at the Deoband Conference of Dlena and MUSIIBJ experts of Islamic Law which conceded the need to revise tiie present personal law of Muslims, cons latent with the Quran and the sunnah. Thei*e is,however,a section among the Muslims,alt ough in a v^Tj thin minority which is demanding substantial changes in Muslim Personal Lav* This section Includes both 'radicals*like Hamld Dalwal and MRA Baig and 'modernists* like Fyzee,Daiiial Latifl and Tahir Mahmood whose approach to the probleis is cautioned and patient. This section believes that certain provisions of Muslim Personal Law prevailing in India have outlived their utility and are not in tune with the modern concepts of 'justice' and 1equality'• To Insist that it should be retained in its present form win,according to this group,amount to insisting on the retention of certain legal rigidities,social Inequalities,uncalled for discrepancies and undesirable hardships. From the above it is evident that the problem of Muslim Personal Law reform is important from the point of view of both the majority and minority groups of the community,although for different reasoas* The Importance of the problem from the national viewpoint too can hardly be over-emphasised. The Hindustan Times in its editorial dated 18 January,1972 characterised this as a national problem. India is endeavouring to build up a society based on social justice and equality before law, and fred froB any dlaorlalnatlon on the basis of sex,religion, cafte and creed • the Idaal^enahrlned In the Constitution* The Muslins numbering about 60 nilllon8|Constltute the biggest Bdnorlty of the country* their backwardness|Soclal or economic will undoubtedly have an lopact on the progress of the country and oust,therefore, be a matter of vital concern for the entire nation* The country*s advancement and inarch on the path of modernisation will surely be retarded If such a vast section of the population lags behind other sections In any sphere of the national life* India cannot therefore afford to Ignore the social or econooic backvardness of the Muslim Community* The problem of social reform of Muslims Is,therefore, not merely a sectarian problem but a national problem* In this context the question of modernising the personal lav of Muslims is as much the concern of the nation as that of the Muslim community. Such is,therefore,the importance of the problem* But, I to the best of my knowledge,no bibliography has so far been compiled on this topic although the controversy about reform of Muslim Personal Lav has generated a vast amount of litera ture* Probably this humble attempt will fill the vacciim to some extent at least* The present work is divided into two parts* part one is descriptive and gives the religiotis background of the problem, a brief survey of MusldLm personal Law in India since the Moghul period contemporary trends in family law reform in the Muslim world, a brief discussion about the Issue of a uhlform civil code and a final analysia of the problem in Chapter 6 followed by a detailed surrey of the viewpoints of different schools of thought on this issue. This chapter also ejqplains the policy which the Government has so far pursued vis-a-vis Muslim personal Law* The Part ends with a bibliography of important books and pamphlets|both in English and Urdu,on Muslim Law and other closely related issues* I hope this short bibliography Will enhance the value of the main bibliogrs^^phy which is confined to periodical articles,leading articles in newspapers and contributions in composite books* part two contains a list of periodicals and composite books documented^a list of 8ub;)ect headings under which the bibliography has been arranged^ the main bibliography,an alphabetical index,a glossary of important terms in Islamic law and a brief who*s who of important authors who have written on Muslim Personal Law reform in India* 8copet The bibliography includes 3^-2 entries and covers the period from 191*9 to 197^» It may,however,be pointed out here that the movement for rsform has gathered momentum only in recent years,specially after the first symposium on Changes in Muslim Personal Law organised on the occasion of the twenty-sixth International Congress of Orientalists in Delhi in 196*+* The literature on this topic in the earlier period is very scanty and this accounts for not very many entries in the bibliography for this period* r, While thd blbllographv is essentially selective in nature I have end»avour«d ay best to cover all aspects of the problem and to make it fully representative of the various shades of opinion on the issue.