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Mumbai: The married Muslim women in the slums of Behrampada, Mumbai now have a new and revised marriage contract that gives them more security than earlier. In a movement by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) aimed at empowering the slum women, a new contract has been put in place to give what is due to Muslim women.

The Muslim marriage contract is a formal, binding contract drawn up by parties involved in marriage proceedings. Earlier the marriage contract was favourable for the male sex. They were given many liberties in the marriage and were not bound for monogamy. Moreover they also had the freedom of divorcing their wife and giving very little amount of mehr.

The new marriage contract proves to be a boon for the muslim women giving them a increased sense of faith and better living allowances in case of divorce. The new marriage contract would entitle the women to better mehr, remove the risk of talaq (oral divorce), and secure an assurance from her husband that he would not indulge in polygamy.

The new marriage contract is a result of the continuous efforts of Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) that aims “'o give what is due to Muslim women in Islam and ensuring that it is given through a valid contract'.

The nikahnama is in consonance with the Holy Quran and what is permitted in Islam. This contract only gets women closer to what is ensured to them by making it binding legally. Also, they do not have to worry about their husbands divorcing them all the time. Monogamy is the stated ideal in the Quran.

The new nikhanama would surely prove to be helpful for the married woman and would empower them by giving sense of security and equality in their relation.