The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is a non-government organisation constituted in 1973 by that time Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi to adopt suitable strategies for the protection and continued applicability of Muslim Personal Law in India, most importantly, the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act of 1937, providing for the application of the Islamic Law Code of Shariat to Muslims in India in personal affairs.AIMPLB Home Page
/ref> The Act applies to all matters of personal law except such successions. Even this section had the right under laws such as the Cutchi Memons Act, 1920 and the Mahomedan Inheritance Act (II of 1897) to opt for "Mahomedan Law". Faizur Rahman claims that a majority of Muslim followed Muslim law, not the Hindu civil code. The Board presents itself as the leading body of Muslim opinion in India, a role for which it has been criticised as well as supported. All India Muslim Personal Law Board was set up during Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 and was al ...

's time. Most of the Muslim sects are represented on the board and its members include prominent Muslims from cross section of the Indian Muslim society such as religious leaders, scholars, lawyers, politicians and other professionals. One of its presidents, Quazi Mujahidul Islam Quasmi played crucial role in keeping Muslim scholars from diverse field at the platform of AIMPLB. However, Muslim scholar

Tahir Mahmood Tahir Mahmood is an Indian legal scholar and author of a large number of books frequently cited in the judgments of the Supreme Court of India and numerous High Courts. He had his higher legal education in Aligarh and London and has over fif ...

, Kerala Governor

Arif Mohammad Khan Arif Mohammad Khan (born 18 November 1951) is an Indian politician representing the BJP. He currently serving as the Governor of Kerala & the Chancellor of all State Universities in Kerala. He is a former Union Minister. He has held several po ...

and retired Supreme Court judge

Markandey Katju Markandey Katju is an Indian jurist and former judge of Supreme Court of India who served as chairman for the Press Council of India. He is the son of politician Shiva Nath Katju and grandson of Kailash Nath Katju. He is the founder and patr ...

have advocated abolishing of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. The members of All India Muslim Personal Law Board do not apply to

Ahmadiyya Ahmadiyya (, ), officially the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community or the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jama'at (AMJ, ar, الجماعة الإسلامية الأحمدية, al-Jamāʿah al-Islāmīyah al-Aḥmadīyah; ur, , translit=Jamā'at Aḥmadiyyah Musl ...

Muslims in India. Ahmadis were not allowed to sit on the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. This is widely regarded in India as representative of Muslims in the country as most Muslims don't consider the Ahmadis as Muslims. Maulana Kalbe Sadiq, senior vice president of AIMPLB is also the vice chairman of the All India Shia Personal Law Board.

Description

AIMPLB is a private body working to protect Muslim personal laws, liaise with and influence the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

and guide the general public about crucial issues. The board has a working committee of 51

ulama In Islam, the ''ulama'' (; ar, علماء ', singular ', "scholar", literally "the learned ones", also spelled ''ulema''; feminine: ''alimah'' ingularand ''aalimath'' lural are the guardians, transmitters, and interpreters of religious ...

representing various schools of thought. In addition to this, it also has a general body of 201 persons of ulama as well as laymen, including about 25 women. However, some of the

Shias Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

and Muslim feminists have formed their own separate boards, the All India Shia Personal Law Board and the All India Muslim Women's Personal Law Board, respectively but have failed to win any significant support from the Muslims or the government.

Executive committee

Rabey Hasani Nadvi is the incumbent president of the board and Kalbe Sadiq, Jalaluddin Umri, Fakhruddin Ashraf, Sayeed Ahmed Oomeri are its incumbent vice presidents.

Khalid Saifullah Rahmani Khalid Saifullah Rahmani (born November 1956) is an Indian Muslim scholar, author and jurist who serves as the general secretary of the All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He is the general secretary of Islamic Fiqh Academy, India, Islamic Fiqh ...

is the incumbent acting general secretary after the demise of Wali Rahmani and Fazlur Rahim Mujaddedi, Zafaryab Jilani and Umrain Mahfooz Rahmani are its incumbent secretaries. Riaz Umar is the treasurer of the board. Its executive members include

K. Ali Kutty Musliyar K. Ali Kutty (born 1945), title Musliyar, is an Islamic scholar from Kerala, southern India. He currently serves as General Secretary, Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the body of Sunni-Shafi'i scholars in northern Kerala. He also serves as ...

, Muhammad Sufyan Qasmi,

Rahmatullah Mir Qasmi Rahmatullah Mir Qasmi (born 22 July 1957) is a Kashmiri Islamic scholar, founder and rector of Darul Uloom Raheemiyyah, one of the largest Islamic seminaries in Kashmir. He is a senior member of the managing committee of Darul Uloom Deoband, fou ...

and others.

Associated scholars

Sayyid Minatullah Rahmani Minnatullah Rahmani (7 April 1913 – 20 March 1991) was an Indian Sunni Muslim scholar who served as the first General Secretary of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. He was an alumnus of Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulama and Darul Uloom Deoband, and ...

(former General Secretary) *

Mujahidul Islam Qasmi Mujahidul Islam Qasmi (1936–4 April 2002) was an Indian Mufti, Qadhi and Islamic scholar, founder of Islamic Fiqh Academy. He served as the President of All India Muslim Personal Law Board. Biography Qasmi was born in 1936 in Darbhanga, Bri ...

(former President) * Muhammad Salim Qasmi (former Vice President)

Criticism

The AIMPLB focuses primarily to defend the Sharia laws from any law or legislation that they consider infringes on it. In this role initially it has objected to any change in the Divorce Laws for Muslim women. In this regard it has even published a book – Nikah-O-Talaq (Marriage and Divorce). However, from time to time it has been hinted by the board that it might reconsider its position. It has also objected to gay rights and supports upholding the 1861 Indian law that bans sexual intercourse between persons of the same sex. The Board has also objected to the Right of Children for Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 as they believe it will infringe on the Madrasa System of Education. It has also supported

child marriage Child marriage is a marriage or similar union, formal or informal, between a child under a certain age – typically 18 years – and an adult or another child. * * * * The vast majority of child marriages are between a female child and a mal ...

and opposes the

Child Marriage Restraint Act The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929, passed on 28 September 1929, in the Imperial Legislative Council of India, fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years. In 1949, after India's independence, it was amended to 15 for ...

. It supports marriage age as 15 but says we do not promote it but people should have choice. It has also objected to the High Court of India Judgement on

Babri Mosque Babri Masjid (IAST: Bābarī Masjid; meaning ''Mosque of Babur'') was a mosque in Ayodhya, India, at a site believed by many Hindus to be the birthplace of Hindu deity Rama. It has been a focus of dispute between the Hindu and Muslim communi ...

. For this, it is also willing to threaten political action. The Board was in the headlines for its opposition to the live video conference of author

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and ...

to the

Jaipur Literature Festival The Jaipur Literature Festival, or JLF, is an annual literary festival which takes place in the Indian city of Jaipur each year in the month of January. It was founded in 2006. It is the world's largest free literary festival. The Diggi Palace ...

in January 2012. After government considered making yoga compulsory in schools They argued that "there is a serious threat to our religion. There is a sinister design to impose 'Brahmin dharma' through

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

, Surya Namaskara and

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

culture. They all are against Islamic beliefs. We need to awaken our community for launching a protest on a large scale"

Model Nikahnama

AIMPLB drafted a model 'nikahnama' in 2003 laying down specific guidelines and conditions on which a marriage can be annulled by both husband and wife in large sections of Sunni Muslims in Uttar Pradesh.

References

External links

All India Muslim Personal Law Board
{{Authority control Islamic organisations based in India Legal organisations based in India 1973 establishments in India Muslim politics in India