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

[Javed]

There is absolutely nothing in Muslim law that stops Muslim men and
women to pray together in a mosque. In the grand mosques of Mecca and
Medina, they enter and pray together. Women also pray in mosques in
many countries and regions. In India, at least in Kashmir and Kerala
(with largest Muslim populations), women visit mosques especially on
Fridays and on Eid. But its in the cowbelt north India where women are
discouraged from praying together with men. Dargahs is a different
issue, especially the sanctum santorum of dargahs - some dargahs allow
them some don't. Ajmer dargah allows them, at least till now.


On Mon, Nov 5, 2012 at 7:20 PM, Tara Prakash <taraprakash at gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
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