Instant divorce blamed on extramarital affairs

'Increasing use of social media, social openness about extramarital affairs creating mutual suspicion among couples'

ISLAMABAD: Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) chairman has said there has been a continuous rise in the number of divorces in the country and extramarital affairs are one of the major reasons behind the rising cases of ‘talaq in one go’.

Talking to The Express Tribune CII chief Dr Qibla Ayaz said the council has been receiving huge number of reported cases from mosques, which are receiving cases almost every other day related to extramarital affairs.

“Triple talaq in one go is becoming a social problem now and the reason behind its occurrence has been changing with the passage of time. Previously in various cases it used to be internal family conflict or clash of interests between the bride’s and groom’s family. Of late, however, the reason is social media and social openness of extramarital relationships which lead to mutual suspicion between couples resulting in instant divorce,” he said.



Therefore considering the situation the CII has decided to draft a comprehensive talaqnama aimed at empowering women through including provisions meant for safeguarding their basic rights, he said.

Earlier in a meeting held between the chief of CII and  Maulana Muhammad Hanif Jalandhari, the secretary general of the Wafaq ul Madaris Al-Arabia, it was decided meetings will be held with renowned  scholars from all provinces and with their help  a series of seminars will be conducted for establishing better family system.

“The aim of these meetings and seminars would be countering the rise in divorce cases, depriving a woman of her property rights and inheritance among others,” said Dr Qibla Ayaz.

He further said that during the meeting a need was felt of taking more measures to make role of CII more effective. “Therefore in this regard a meeting will be planned with President Arif Alvi,” he said.