At a college seminar, two students give short talks. Nidhi shows family photographs: her grandmother draped an unstitched sari in the old regional style, while her mother wears it with a stitched blouse and petticoat, as most urban middle-class women do today. Imran reads from a speech made at a women's conference in the early twentieth century. Citing her scripture, the speaker urged educated women to use their influence among their relations to end a practice followed by certain sections of her community.
The practice and the argument in the speech that Imran reads are best identified as:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Polygamy, held to be against the true spirit of the Quran
Option (1) Polygamy, held to be against the true spirit of the Quran — Correct. The speech is the resolution of Jahanara Shah Nawas at the All India Muslim Ladies Conference. She held that polygamy as practised by certain sections of the Muslims is against the true spirit of the Quran, so citing her scripture points to this argument.
Option (2) Purdah, held to be against the true spirit of the Quran — Incorrect. Muslim reformers did debate purdah too, but this resolution was against polygamy. The Quran argument fits, yet the practice is wrong.
Option (3) Polygamy, held to be against the natural rights of women — Incorrect. The practice is right but the argument fails. She rested her case on the true spirit of the Quran, which is why the speaker cites her scripture.
Option (4) Purdah, held to be against the natural rights of women — Incorrect. Both parts fail. The resolution targeted polygamy, and its argument came from the true spirit of the Quran.
NCERT (2026-27): “2.1 Social reform movements in the 19th and early 20th century … “…the kind of polygamy which is practiced by certain sections of the Muslims is against the true spirit of the Quran…and it is the duty of the educated women to exercise their influence among the relations to put an end to this practice.” |