In a recent legal development, Bushra Bibi’s attorney, Salman Akram Raja, referenced a sharia ruling by Mufti Taqi Usmani regarding marriage during the ‘iddah’ period while presenting arguments in the court of Judge Afzal Majoka.
Salman Akram Raja revealed that the higher judiciary had not imposed any responsibility on women in such cases, noting that a previous case was dismissed after 39 days. He disclosed that this ruling was authored by Mufti Taqi Usmani, a high-ranking scholar of the Deobandi school, along with Pir Karam Shah Al-Azhari of the Barelvi school and Mohammad Rafiq Tarar.
During his presentation, Raja also referred to the Rashida Akhtar case, clarifying that Quranic directives mention a period of three menstrual cycles rather than a specific 90-day interval.
This discussion arises amid renewed interest. Mufti Taqi Usmani has not publicly commented on the issue since it resurfaced, which has sparked curiosity and discussion among legal analysts and on social media platforms.
Naeem Haider Panjutha, from Imran Khan’s legal team, emphasized that Mufti Taqi Usmani had deemed a marriage valid if conducted 39 days after the initiation of ‘iddah,’ as per a decision made. At the same time, he served as a judge in the Federal Sharia Court. Despite the passage of significant time since the ruling on February 2, Mufti Usmani has yet to issue any public statement, a silence that remains unexplained to date.
