The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB), in its recent two-day general body meeting in Kanpur, allotted membership to 30 Muslim women from various social fields and appointed three women as executive committee members. This is seen as an attempt to empower Muslim women in India's top Islamic organisation, which is run by senior clerics.
The newly-appointed women members do not hold a religious title or madrasa degree but are endowed with the experience of serving society as per Sharia laws, members said.
AIMPLB executive committee member Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said, "Hyderabad doctor Asma Zahra, who runs a charitable hospital, Lucknow-based Dr Nighat Parveen, an educationist who runs schools and madrasas in Uttar Pradesh, and a social worker from Delhi, Atiya Parveen, have been appointed executive committee members."
He said that the names of Muslim women were recommended from across the country, following which the Board nominated qualified and practising Muslims working in social fields.
The AIMPLB is also running a women's helpline to assist Muslim women in dealing with social or family problems and has constituted special panels to generate awareness among masses against triple talaq, dowry, extravagance in weddings and other "social evils".
The Board was constituted in 1973 to formulate strategies for protection and continued applicability of Muslim Personal Law.
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