[Reader-list] Leading dargahs in Mumbai bar women from sanctum

Mon Nov 5 18:17:23 IST 2012

This is sad news. Very soon more dargahs may follow this dictat. If we
oppose this move, they can became even more regressive - probably ban
dargahs altogether.

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Liberals fume as leading dargahs in Mumbai bar women from sanctum

Clara Lewis & Mohammed Wajihuddin, Nov 5, 2012

MUMBAI: One of the features of Sufi shrines is an inclusive approach
to devotees. That character is now being turned on its head by
Mumbai's iconic dargahs, which have started segregating men and women
visitors. Seven dargahs have banned women from entering the astana
(sanctum sanctorum, where a saint is buried) and many more are
preparing to do so.

The ban has existed for a year at the Haji Ali dargah, which allows
women to offer prayers and chaddar from behind a barrier that is four
feet from the mazaar (grave), thus preventing them from touching the
resting place of the saint.

At the Mahim dargah-the shrine of Makhdoom Shah Baba-the trustees for
six months have been "sensitizing" women to the thought that going
near the saint's grave is "un-Islamic".

After the dargah's redevelopment, there will be a separate enclosure
for women like the one at the Haji Ali shrine, denying them access to
the astana. At present, men and women are allowed into the astana in
separate batches.

The development at the seven dargahs was brought to light by the
advocacy group Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which recently
surveyed 20 dargahs in Mumbai. "Last March, after our conference in
Mumbai, our women activists visited the Haji Ali dargah and offered
prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum. But this year, during the
survey, we were shocked that the dargah had banned women from entering
the mazaar," said Noorjehan Safia Niaz, founder member, BMMA.

Sunni and Deobandi clerics support the seven dargahs' decision. "The
sharia does not allow intermingling of men and women at any place. The
visit of women to graves is forbidden. It is welcome that the dargahs
are following this rule," said Maulana Athar Ali, a Sunni cleric.
Senior Deobandi cleric Maulana Mahmood Daryabadi echoes this. "They
should have done it much earlier. I am glad they are now following a
rule sanctioned by the sharia," he said.

But liberal Muslims are outraged. "This is shocking and shameful. This
is a regressive step that will further fuel Islamophobia and encourage
the detractors of Islam to allege that the religion practices
discrimination against women," said Javed Anand of Muslims for Secular
Democracy (MSD).

Urdu columnist Hasan Kamaal called the banning of women from astanas
"extreme misogyny". "If women and men are allowed to go around the
holy Kaaba, and perform haj and umrah (mini-haj) together, why cannot
they pray at the dargahs together? It is an insult to the legacy of
Sufism, which is moderate and inclusive," said Kamaal.

Dargah trustees are adamant on their decision. Suhail Khandwani,
managing trustee of the Mahim dargah and also a trustee at the Haji
Ali dargah, said trustees were only following what muftis, or clerics
who issue fatwas, have demanded for long. "Muftis have time and again
pointed out that Islam does not permit women to visit a cemetery.
While we prefer to call dargahs resting places of the saints, they are
in fact graves and the sharia does not allow women to visit graves."

Still, he admitted that barring women from the astana at Mahim dargah
would be difficult. "Haji Ali is an isolated dargah, but the Mahim
shrine is right in the middle of a residential area. So, residents,
including women, feel a sense of ownership. Also, the dargah is a
resting place of the saint as well as his mother. So, it is rather
difficult to tell women not to go in."

What worries the BMMA is that dargah trustees may not stop with
banning women from entering astanas. "They might bar entry for
non-Muslims as well, which would damage the secular fabric of the
country," said a BMMA member.

'Regressive step will fuel Islamophobia'

The fact that seven dargahs in the city, including Haji Ali, have
barred women from astanas (sancta sanctorum) was brought to light by
the advocacy group Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which
recently surveyed 20 dargahs in Mumbai. "Last March, after our
conference in Mumbai, our women activists visited the Haji Ali dargah
and offered prayers inside the sanctum sanctorum. But this year,
during the survey, we were shocked that the dargah had banned women
from entering the mazaar," said Noorjehan Safia Niaz, founder member,
BMMA.