‘No Prohibition in Islam on Women Offering Namaz in Segregated Spaces in Mosques’: Muslim Personal Law Board Tells Supreme Court

Islam does not prohibit women from entering mosques to offer namaz or congregational prayer, provided that there is no free intermixing of men and women in common areas, the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board informed the Supreme Court in an affidavit on Wednesday. “The Board is consistent with its opinion in terms of Islamic texts that there is no prohibition on Muslim women entering mosques and offering namaz or congregational prayers. However, free intermixing of genders in the same line or common space is not in conformity with the position prescribed in Islam and that needs to be taken care of by segregation of space within the premises by the management committee, if possible.” This affidavit was submitted by the board, which is a private body liaising with governments to ensure the protection and continued applicability of Muslim personal law or the Shariat, in response to a petition filed by a Pune-based Muslim woman and activist, Advocate Farha Anwar Hussain Shaikh. In her petition, Shaikh urged the top court to declare the prohibition of the entry of Muslim women into mosques as illegal. She argued that besides being violative of the constitutional rights of Muslim women, particularly, the right to a life with dignity, such an embargo was also not envisaged by the Quran. There was nothing in the Islamic holy scriptures that imposed a mandate of segregation of the sexes, she insisted. In fact, according to Shaikh, Prophet Muhammad specifically admonished men for keeping their wives from going to mosques to offer prayers. In support of her contention, she cited the example of Mecca and Medina, where female pilgrims apparently perform hajj and umrah rituals along with their male counterparts. However, the Muslim personal law board has soundly rejected the petitioner’s contention that there was ‘free’ intermingling of men and women in either Mecca or Medina. The board has said, in no uncertain terms, that the segregation of sexes was a religious requirement envisioned by the holy scriptures, and could not be dispensed with. It also said that while women were not obligated to offer daily or weekly prayers in a congregation, unlike their male counterparts, management committees of existing mosques in India “are free to create such segregated spaces for women”, depending upon the available facility and “if the existing building or space permits such arrangements”. It has also appealed to the Muslim community at large to ‘keep in mind’ the consideration of constructing segregated spaces for women whenever new mosques are created. Besides this, the respondent personal law board has also challenged the maintainability of the petition on the ground that the questions raised in the petition are “not in the background of state action”. “The board, being a body of experts, without any state powers, can only issue advisory opinion, based on Islamic principles. The board, and this court, for that matter, cannot enter into the arena of detailed arrangements of a religious place, which is a completely privately managed entity for religious practices.” The propriety of the Supreme Court examining and ‘correcting’ purely religious beliefs and practices, under the pretext of providing a remedy for alleged violations of the constitutional rights enshrined in Articles 14, 15, 21, 25, and 29, was also called into question. “The rights claimed do not merely concern the management of a religious place but also regulating the activities connected with religious practice. In essence, this court has been invited to interpret the religious beliefs and religious practices. It is not appropriate for this court to enter that area.” What did the Muslim personal law board say about women entering mosques? · Muslim women not prohibited from entering mosques to offer prayers In light of Islamic religious texts, doctrines, and religious beliefs of the subscribers of the religion, the entry of women into mosques for offering prayers is permitted. “Thus, a Muslim woman is free to enter into a masjid for prayers. It is her option to exercise her right to avail such facilities as available for prayers in a masjid. The All-India Muslim Personal Law Board not want to comment on any contrary religious opinion to this effect,” the affidavit has clarified. · Muslim women not obligated to offer daily or weekly prayers in a congregation Unlike men, Muslim women are not obligated under Islamic law to offer prayers in a congregation five times in a day. Similarly, there is no religious mandate requiring Muslim women to offer weekly namaz in a congregation on Fridays, though such a mandate operates on their male counterparts. The affidavit has stated, “The Muslim woman is differently placed because, as per the doctrines of Islam, she is entitled to the same religious reward, i.e., sawab, for praying as per her option; either in a masjid or at...

‘No Prohibition in Islam on Women Offering Namaz in Segregated Spaces in Mosques’: Muslim Personal Law Board Tells Supreme Court

Awstika Das

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