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

[Tara Prakash]

Excuse my ignorance, but is there something in Muslim personal law that 
stops Muslim men and women to visit a mosque together. I understand that 
dargah issue has nothing to do with mosques in general.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Javed" <javedmasoo at gmail.com>
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Monday, November 05, 2012 7:47 AM
Subject: [Reader-list] Leading dargahs in Mumbai bar women from sanctum


> 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.
>
> -------------
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Liberals-fume-as-leading-dargahs-in-Mumbai-bar-women-from-sanctum/articleshow/17093918.cms
> _________________________________________
> reader-list: an open discussion list on media and the city.
> Critiques & Collaborations
> To subscribe: send an email to reader-list-request at sarai.net with 
> subscribe in the subject header.
> To unsubscribe: https://mail.sarai.net/mailman/listinfo/reader-list
> List archive: <https://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/>