Girl dares ban on entry of women into mosques - The Hindu
Posted By Ashok V Chowgule (ashokvc@giasbm01.vsnl.net.in)
Mon, 21 Apr 97 17:25:37 EDT
> Title : Girl dares ban on entry of women into mosques
> Author : R Anuradha
> Publication : The Indian Express
> Date : April 19, 1997
>
> The issue of entry of women into mosques has reared up once again with a
> 15-year old girl releasing a pamphlet challenging the statement of the
chief
> kazi of Chennai.
>
> The Muslim girl, Mariam Fatima, has quoted the Koran, the Prophet and the
> Hatis (religious book), and she has laid forward arguments stating that
there
> is no reason why women should not enter mosques.
>
> After reading a report translated from The Indian Express, on Ramzan day,
> where the chief kazi had forbidden women from entering mosques, she
prepared
> a well-researched document arguing in favour of women's entry into mosques.
A
> copy of this, in her own handwriting, was sent to the kazi and the Prince
of
> Arcot Mohammed Abdul Ali, through registered post in the first week of
March.
> There was no response from either of them.
>
> The girl and her father waited for 20 days after which they got the entire
> pamphlet in Urdu printed. A total of 5,000 copies were distributed to 18
> mosques in Chennai, including four mosques on Mount Road.
>
> The response has however been disheartening. The caretaker of the mosque
> where Fatima's father Mohammed Anwar goes to, openly decried the pamphlet
> declaring within his earshot that "whoever issued the pamphlet should be
> beaten up and the house should be ransacked". Fatima has also received an
> anonymous threat letter using the choicest of abuses. The girl's father has
> not shown it to her because she would be upset. The letter says, "you
should
> be appointed as a mud digger (sic) of the grave. Your epitaph is written
and
> the funeral is due".
>
> In her pamphlet, the girl has argued that when the Prophet had expressly
> stated that women could enter mosques, there should be no hesitation. The
> only stipulation is that they should not wear attractive dresses and
> perfumes, while going to the mosque. She has also quoted the Hatis (Sahib
> Bukhari - Vol.I, pg.211) saying, "if a woman asks whether she wants to go
to
> a mosque, do not stop her".
>
> The clinching argument is that women used to go to mosques even during the
> Prophet's period, so why should it be banned now? Fatima points out that
> another scared book (after the Koran), the Book of Sahib Muslim, has said
> that women can listen to sermons. Fatima has further argued that there are
> two 200-year old mosques in Chennai - the Wallajah mosque and the Masjid
> Anwari - which have provisions for women to enter and pray. She has made
an
> appeal to the Prince of Arcot to revive this tradition of the Prophet.
>
> Though Mohammed Anwar is scared of his daughter's fate and future, he is
> convinced that she has done the right thing.
>
> A calm and composed Fatima told The Indian Express, "When I first read the
> kazi's declaration I knew it was wrong. 1 had studied something different.
> So I wanted to set things right. The kazi is a person who is supposed to
> guide the community. It is not fitting for him to issue a wrong statement
> That is the reason why I wrote the pamphlet. If he analyses it calmly he
> will see the truth in it, but if he is obsessed with the fact that it is
> written by a young girl and sees me as an upstart, it is just too bad".
>
> Back in Bangalore, at the Madrasa where she is studying to become an alim
> (religious scholar), her teachers and friends are all happy with her act.
> They have commended her involvement. Fatima too has no qualms, "I have
done
> what I feel is right. I have nothing to fear. I have backed my arguments
> with quotations from the right sources. I have only caned a spade a spade".
> She herself has been to a mosque only once in her fife and feels that it is
a
> right that should not be taken away from women.
>
>
