Muslims divided over Supreme Court’s verdict on alimony, more women than men opposing it

By: Team India Tracker

The survey conducted over 1,166 Muslim respondents in India’s Hindi Speaking belt shows that compared to men – Muslim women were less likely to welcome the Court’s decision on providing alimony.

The Supreme Court of India’s decision on Wednesday ruled that a Muslim woman is entitled to alimony after divorce just as any other woman is in the country. This revived the noise on old Shah Bano case of the 1980s where a Muslim man was directed to pay alimony to his divorced wife but the then Congress government changed the laws to overturn the decision.

Back then, the Congress government bent to the pressure of conservative Muslim groups led by men who overwhelmingly opposed the Court’s verdict. However, flash forward to 2024 – data shows that Muslims are still a little conservative on the Court’s move - with relative more women in opposition – finds a CVoter survey conducted on 11 July.

The survey conducted over 1,166 Muslim respondents in India’s Hindi Speaking belt on a representative demographic via an IVRS Computer Assisted Telephonic Interview – shows that compared to men – Muslim women were less likely to welcome the Court’s decision on providing alimony.

According to the survey, when asked ‘Do you welcome the verdict given by the apex court on extending alimony provisions to Muslim women’ – nearly 42% women said NO, only 36% men negated the statement. In contrast – more men – about 48% welcomed the decision than 45.5% women. The remaining respondents (16% men and 13% women) had a no say or didn’t know.

Marriages in India are a personal matter and hence are dealt with personal civil laws. When asked if the Supreme Court’s decision was an interference with the Muslim Personal Laws – here too the opinion was divided.

According to the survey – more Muslim men than women are likely to believe that the Court’s decision is a form of interreference. Nearly 42% men said – ‘Yes’ it interferes a lot’, about 19% said it interferes somewhat and only 22% said it does not interfere at all. Rest 15% didn’t say anything.

Muslim women gave divided opinions – with 31% saying it interferes a lot, 20% saying a little and 31% saying not at all. Remaining 18.2% didn’t say anything.