UCC not feasible in India, says AIMPLB Gen Sec Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani

All India Muslim Personal Law Board General Secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani said on Thursday opined on a range of social issues. Speaking to ETV Bharat, the religious leader noted, among other observations, that UCC was not feasible in a country like India.

Lucknow:Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rahmani, General Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, in an interview on Thursday said any exercise having the scale as that of the Uniform Civil Code was not feasible for a country as large as India. "It might work in smaller countries, but in a country as big as India, UCC is not feasible. If you look at the US, every state has their own law. This (UCC) has become a completely political matter now. People have no advantage from this. They want jobs. They want access to education to be made easy," Rahmani said.

"If the government tries to bring forth any such legislation, we will definitely protest. UCC is not just an issue for Muslims. It concerns Christians, Parsis and tribal communities as well. We will take appropriate decision if such a step is taken," he added. When asked about the debate around offering namaz in public spaces, the leader noted that 'controversies' were created by people.

"My age is around 70 years. Since childhood, we have been performing namaz in public places, such as trains. Nobody ever objected to this. Brotherhood exists in our society, and it should continue. The controversy has been created very recently. Islam suggests not performing namaz in a place where it causes inconvenience. But, the main thing here is to respect each other and have communal harmony" he added.

When asked about his stance on the recent Kerala High Court order stating that Muslim women had the absolute legal power to divorce their husbands through 'khula', irrespective of their latter's consent, the Maulana said that the order has "not been understood properly." "'Khula' is also a Quranic element. The process requires consent from (the woman's) husband," he asserted.