Lucknow, Nov. 5: The All India Shia Personal Law Board has decided to give women of the community the right to divorce at a Sharia court or by pronouncing talaq.

It has also banned instant talaq — the triple talaq delivered at one go — for both men and women, though this is anyway uncommon among Shias.

The provisions are part of a model nikaahnama the Shia board will formally launch on November 26 in Mumbai, going a step ahead of a similar, progressive marriage contract unveiled in May last year by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.

A Muslim woman can now seek divorce through a process called khulla — but only if her husband agrees to invoke the provision. This means she usually has to agree to forgo maintenance.

“We have decided to go beyond the khulla. We have included in the marriage contract the woman’s right to say talaq to her husband,” the Shia board’s chairman, Maulana Mohammad Athar, said. “We have consulted legal experts and religious leaders so that the nikaahnama doesn’t conflict with the laws of the country.”

Athar promised to set an example by getting his son, who is to marry soon, to sign the new nikaahnama.