Throw open Masaajid for women

There’s hikma’h (wisdom) in every thing in Islam: be in its prohibitions or in its permissions. It is true that Islam doesn’t encourage intermingling of genders, but that doesn’t necessitate depriving certain rights of either gender. Islam is also clear about home being the best place for women to pray, but terming anything as ‘the best’ doesn’t translate everything else to be prohibited. The Qura’n or Ahadith don’t make mosques the male-only entities. Without leaving much to the individual interpretations, we should see if the women attended mosques in Madina at the time of Prophet (SAW).

Hadith 1: Aishah, (RA), narrates that the Prophet (SAW), used to pray Fajr at dusk and then the women would leave immediately without being recognized because of darkness and they would not recognize each other. (Bukhari)

   

Hadith 2: Um Salamah, (RA), reports that when the Prophet (SAW), finished the prayer by saying salam, the women would stand up and leave while he was saying the salam. And he would stay in his place for a little while before standing up. (Bukhari).  Other narrations tell us that men also stayed with the Prophet (SAW), so the women could leave before men.

These two narrations  make it amply conspicuous that women did go to the mosque, when Rasoolullah (SAW) would lead the prayers. At the same time, it nullifies the other extreme as well, who advocate mutual discussion, collaboration and complete participation of women in the mosques. It would’ve been rude for men to leave while the prophet (SAW) was still saying salaam, but it was desirable for women to do so since the overriding concern was to avoid fitna of mixing-up while leaving the mosque. So, the point here is the proper conduct, not shunting out women.

An incident of Umar Ibn al Khattab (RA) further consolidates the argument. In a famous story, Umar (RA), in his sermon, fixed the upper-limit for dowry as 400 dirhams. A woman from the audience called out: “Umar! Is what you say more acceptable or Allah’s ordinance? Does not Allah Almighty say: ‘And if you wish to have (one) wife in place of another and you have given one of them a heap of gold, then take not from it anything.’” (4:20).  Having heard this verse and the retort of the woman, Umar said: “You have better knowledge of fiqh and problems than Umar. He again mounted the pulpit and said ‘ I now permit you to give as much as you like beyond the appointed limit. There is no harm in it.”

So, the women in Madina went to the Prophet’s mosque. In current times, women are allowed to visit mosques, in what’s apparently regarded as the most conservative society- Saudi Arabia. Women, not only pray, but organize various programs for sisters in masaajid in the United States. The same goes with Europe, including the UK. It’s just in our subcontinent that women is an anathema to the mosques. Now, is this because our women are so averse to intermingling in general that they feel shy even to step out? No. They are in the offices, schools, colleges, Universities, in Uni-sex buses and metros. In fact, the intermingling within our social functions completely trespasses Islamic limitations. Forget everything, go to the Aastaans, Dargahs and other such burial places. Going there is not even a requirement, but they are all over and visiting together with men. What happens when it comes to our mosques? I fail to understand it when we are all together even in places and contexts where we shouldn’t have been or aren’t even mandated to be, why impose unrealistic haya when it comes to Masjid.

Women in Kashmir need to be connected to Masaajid, given the present circumstances of Islamophobic media and the women-card being used by the enemies to lure our sisters into their fold in the name of woman-liberalization. When the Prophet(SAW) said “Do not prevent your women from (entering) the mosques of Allah.” (Sahih Muslim), we shouldn’t stop them, not at least in the name of religion.

Sisters, though, must be mindful of certain things. 

May be they she should not wear any perfume, jingling jewelry & fancy clothes; should not mix with the men and the path to the Masjid should be safe.

We could make separate entrance & exits, ablution facilities, prayer halls (may be in the top floor) and parking areas for women to avoid fitna- as is rampant in other religious places. The fact that despite strong emphasis on segregation of genders, women were not ordered by Allah to stay home, it means their presence and connection with the mosuqe could be a necessary shariah-compliant measure used to reclaim our sisters into the fold of Islam, in view of the attempts being made to portray them as the oppressed lot. There is no sect of Islam that believes such a step to be Haraam. So, the appeal goes out to all the scholars, Imams, masjid committees and conscious citizens that they discuss it within themselves and build a consensus that there be infrastructural arrangement for the sisters in our mosques. If it was not a sin in Rasoolullah’s Madina, it won’t be a sin for us either. This is Islamic feminism (if at all there’s got to be any feminism), and is needed to defeat anti-Islamic feminism that has engulfed even some of our own men and women. Revive Madina!

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