Muslim personal law

The Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937, governs all the Muslim citizens of India.. This legislation addresses Muslim marriage, inheritance, succession, and charities. The conditions under which Muslim women may file for divorce and the rights of Muslim females whose husbands have divorced them, as well as to address connected issues are covered under the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939. These laws do not apply in the states of Goa, where the Goa civil code applies to everyone, regardless of faith, and in the state of Uttarakhand. Muslims and other Indians who got married under the Special Marriage Act, 1954 are exempt from these rules.

## Marriage and divorce

Muslim marriage in India is a legal agreement between a man and a woman. The husband ( by a _talaq_), wife (_khula_), or both parties (_mubarat_) may decide to dissolve their marriage.  By uttering the word _talaq_, a Muslim man can lawfully divorce his wife. Certain Muslim organisations acknowledge triple _talaq_.  (or _talaq-i-bidda_), announcing three _talaq_ simultaneously and declaring immediate divorce to be a legal procedure. The Supreme Court of India ruled on August 22, 2017, that instant triple _talaq_ was unconstitutional. After the president of India gave his assent on July 31, 2019, the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019 went into effect retroactively on September 19, 2018, making instant _talaq_ illegal, void, and a crime that can be prosecuted in court.

Other Muslim groups practise _talaq-i-hasan_, in which the spouse delivers _talaqs_ three times, separated by at least one lunar month which finalized the divorce. The divorce is void if the husband cohabits with his wife or changes his mind after the first or second talaq.

By an agreement known as _talaq-e-tafweez_, the husband can give his wife or a third party the authority to pronounce _talaq_.

Muslim women seeking divorce are covered by Section 5 of the Shariat Act of 1937. The Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act of 1939 eventually replaced Section 5.  Muslim women have the legal right to file for divorce. A woman may file for divorce in the following situations:
- if the husband's whereabouts have been unknown for four years
- if her husband hasn't paid her maintenance for the past two years
- if the husband receives a term of seven years or longer in prison
- if the husband has not fulfilled his marital duties for a period of three years
- if the husband was impotent before they were married and is still impotent
- if the husband has had leprosy or a serious sexually transmitted disrase, or if he has been mad for two years,
- if the husband has been insane for two years or has had leprosy or another terrible venereal disease,
- if the wife was married before turning 15 by her father or legal guardian
- if the husband leads a notorious life, hangs around with women of bad reputation, or tries to coerce her into living an immoral life
- if her husband sells her property or stops her from using them legally,
- if her spouse prevents her from practicing her religion,
- if he has multiple wives, treats them unfairly in violation of the Quran, or uses any other justification that is accepted by Muslim law for ending a marriage.

### Rules of inheritance

- Wherever they jointly inherit it, a son receives twice as much as a daughter.
- If there are children, the wife receives one-eighth of the share; if not, she receives one-fourth. The one-eighth portion is split evenly among the husband's multiple wives. If there are children, the husband receives one-fourth of his deceased wife's property; if not, he receives half.
- Only two-thirds of the property is split equally among daughters if the parent has many daughters.  If a parent has only one daughter, she inherits half of the parent's assets.
- If there are grandchildren, the mother receives one-sixth of the deceased child's property; if not, she receives one-third.
- Regardless of the quantity or quality of the other heirs, shares are awarded to parents, children, and spouses.

### _Mahr_

The entire amount of money or property that the husband must offer the woman at the time of marriage (_Nikah') is known as _Mahr_. The prompt _mahr_, which is given to the wife shortly after marriage, and the postponed _mahr_, which is provided to the wife after the marriage has ended, either by divorce or the husband's death, are the two forms of _mahr_.

### Will

A Muslim may only leave one-third of his whole estate in a will, or _wasiyat''.

### Gift

A Muslim man can present any kind of property as a gift.