Sayyadbhai – Muslim Reformist

Sayyadbhai – Muslim Reformist

Published in The Navhind Times, panaji, Goa,  dated October 28, 1991

Pune, October 27 : A glance at him and one is saddled with the notion that he belongs to one of the law enforcement agencies. Nothing however, can be further from the truth. Mr. Sayyadbhai, the 54 – year old Muslim reformist, has been toiling for several years towards changing the law and social customs that he feels have outlived their need.

Truly, his can be called a voice in the wilderness. He is among the few Muslim leaders who have made abolition of the Muslim Personal Law and introduction of a uniform civil code their lifelong mission. A lieutenant of the late Muslim reformist, Mr. Hamid Dalwai, and General Secretary of the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal since its inception in 1970, Mr. Sayyadbhai started his public life in 1967. As his first task, he organized a public meeting in Pune to condemn the refusal of the Muslim Nation’s Conference to extend an invitation to the then Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr. Farkruddin Ali Ahmed; on the grounds that the latter did not represent a Muslim nation. Since then, Mr. Sayyadbhai, only few know him by his full name Mr. Syed Mehboob Shah Qadri – has often stirred a hornet’s nest by taking up many controversial issues concerning reforms in his community.

“I started questioning the wisdom behind clinging to the barbaric custom of oral ‘Talaq’ when my sister was divorced by her husband. The poor lady had nowhere to go. I was very young ten. This was the time when I felt the need to find solution which was peculiar to my community alone,” says Mr. Sayyadbhai. “I found the way when I meet Mr. Hamid Dalwai and we decided to form the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal to find a cure to many ills facing our community,” he says.

Even in his personal life, his career graph is noteworthy. Born on April 6, 1936, Mr. Sayyadbhai has studied only up to fourth standard in Urdu medium and had to take up sweeper’s job in Bharat Pencils due to his poor financial position. The owner of the factory, late Mr. Tatyasaheb Marathe, who noticed the talents of this hardworking boy, rewarded him by promoting him. Now, following death of his mentor, Mr. Sayyadbhai is managing the affairs of this small scale industry.

Unlike Mr. Hamid Dalwai, Mr. Sayyadbhai is a theist and a firm follower of the Quoran. “Nothing I support – Uniform Civil code, abolition of the Muslim Personal Law or placing nationalism above religion – is contradictory to the tenets of the Islam,” he enphasises. Mr. Hamid Dalwai, although an atheist, never imposed his personal beliefs on the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal or those who worked along with him and so the accusation that the activities of the Mandal are non-believers is totally baseless, he argues.

The historic decision of the Supreme Court to grant maintenance to Shah Bano, a Muslim woman who was given Talaq by her husband, brought the progressive and orthodox forces within the Muslim community face to face. When the country faced a storm over the issue, Mr. Sayyadbhai had invited the old lady, Shah Bano, now a legend, to Pune and felicitated her.

But the joy of the reformists like Mr. Sayyadbhai was shortlived. There were ominous signs that the Government, under heavy pressure from the fundamentalist forces, was considering amendment to the Constitution to deny maintenance right to divorced Muslim women. At that time, Mr. Sayyadbhai along with Shah Bano, had called on the then Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, to make a strong plea not to deprive the Muslim women of their new right given by the Supreme Court verdict.

“But ultimately, the Government amended the Constitution,” he says, adding bitterly that this was the first case in the country’s history that the Constitution was amended to allow the criminal (husband) to go scot free after committing the offence of deserting the wife.

Mr. Sayyadbhai also used the atmosphere created in the country over the Shah Bano episode to create awaking among the Muslim masses. In November 1985, the Muslim Satyashodhak Mandal organised a Talaq Mukti Morcha in Maharashtra to seek abolition of the oral Talaq and polygamy customs. The group, consisting of 40 activists, including 22 women, moved in a bus all over the State. The morcha faced a hostile crowd at many places, it could not visit some places due to the situation created there by the fundamentalist forces. Yet, despite threatening postures adopted by the orthodox section a large number of Muslim women met the morcha and extended their support to the demand for abolition oral Talaq.

The reformist is of the view that the appeasement policy of the successive governments towards minorities has proved to be more detrimental and less helpful to their cause. The Muslim Women’s Protection Act - considered by the fundamentalist as a victory for the Muslims – has taken the community several steps behind, he maintains.

Mr. Sayyadbhai also asks in what way the Muslim community has benefitted by the former Prime Minister, Mr. V. P. Singh’s declaration of Prophet Mohammed’s birthday as a public holiday? These ‘concessions’ only serve to widen the rift between the different communities without achieving any tangible results, he says.

He has recommended formation of Talaq committees at different places in order to make it difficult for the men to desert their wives easily. “The Muslim community has Chand Committees at each town which meet only twice a year to announce spotting of the moon on the eve of the Idd. Can’t we have the Talaq Committees to prevent desertation of thousands of women every year?” he questions.

Mr. Sayyadbhai gives his own example to illustrate the injustice meted out the Muslims in the name of religion. “I’ve adopted a boy, Asim, since he was six months old. Now Asim is in standard nine and the adoption is not legal since as per the existing laws, a Muslim has no right to adopt. My wife, Akuatarunnisa, has already filed a case to make adoption legal but the petition is pending before the Supreme Court since 1983,” he says.

“When members of other communities have the right to adopt a child, why should I be deprived?” Askes Mr. Sayyadbhai.

The efforts of Mr. Sayyadbhai to spread the reformist movement within the Muslim Community all over the country have yield success. The All India Progressive Muslim Conference was established at a meet organized by Kolhapur in September 1987. Ms. Rashida Mujawar from Goa was among the members of the ad hoc committee of the national body. State and district level units of the Conference are being opened in different parts of the country, indicating the roots gained by this reformist movement within the Muslim community.