海角大神

The custom was, on the face of it, indefensible. Before today, a Muslim man in India could divorce his wife simply by saying 鈥渄ivorce鈥� three times, and there was nothing his wife could do about it. For her to get a divorce, she needed her husband鈥檚 consent.

On Tuesday, the Indian Supreme Court ruled that the practice, called 鈥渢riple talaq,鈥� is unconstitutional and un-Islamic. Islamic scholars agree that the custom has no basis in the Quran. Countries from Pakistan to Egypt have already banned it.

Wisely, India has long tread carefully around religious freedoms, and the board that governs Muslim policy in the country asked for the court not to intervene. The practice is wrong, but let us find our own solution, it said.

Muslim women answered: You鈥檝e had long enough. 鈥淚t is not a victory that has been achieved after one or two years,鈥� one activist . 鈥淢uslim women have been coming to courts and filing petitions and laying the groundwork for this for years.鈥�

In a turbulent world, their victory of patience and steadfastness is a lesson that echoes far beyond India.聽