Fatwa issued by Jammu & Kashmir scholars allows half-widows to remarry

Group of Islamic Scholars in Kashmir issued a fatwa on 26 December 2013 that women, whose husbands are missing for the past four years, can remarry.

The religious scholars of Jammu & Kashmir concluded that half-widows whose husbands have disappeared in custody or otherwise over the past 20 years can remarry four years after the disappearance.

Under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriage Act 1939, a woman married under Muslim law is entitled to obtain a decree for the dissolution of marriage, if the whereabouts of her husband have not been known for a period of four years.

Human rights groups said that the number of people, who have disappeared in the past 20 years is more than 8000 and one fourth of them were married.

The Islamic scholars held three rounds of consultations for the remarriage of Kashmiri women and then issued the fatwa and a detailed edict will be issued soon.

Fatwa is a legal pronouncement in Islam issued by religious law scholars on specific issue.

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