India: Muslim-Hindu couples' kids have property rights

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – In a significant ruling, India’s Supreme Court granted property rights to the children of a Hindu-Muslim couple, media reports said.

“Although the marriage between a Muslim man and Hindu woman is an irregular marriage, described as ‘fasid’ in Mohamadan [Islamic] law, the children born out this wedlock are legitimate and have claim over the property of the father,” said the court ruling late Tuesday, as quoted by local NDTV.

The court had heard a plea by Mohammed Salim, from the southern Indian state of Kerala, the son of Mohammed Ilias and his wife Valliamma.

India is a Hindu-majority country, and Muslims constitute around 14 percent of 1.3 billion population. Cross Hindu-Muslim marriages are reported across the country, although right-wing Hindu nationalist groups have alleged Muslims of “co-opting Hindu girls in their favor,” claiming a so-called “love-jihad.”

“The marriage of a Muslim man with an idolater or fire­worshipper is neither a valid [sahih] nor a void [batil] marriage, but is merely an irregular [fasid] marriage. Any child born out of such wedlock is entitled to claim a share in his father's property,” Justices N.V. Ramana and Mohan M. Shantanagoudar said in the ruling.

The view that a marriage between a Hindu woman and Muslim man is merely “irregular” and any resulting children are legitimate has also been affirmed by various high courts, the ruling added.