Haji Ali’s restrictions on women: Shrines have their own rules | Mumbai news - Hindustan Times
close_game
close_game

Haji Ali’s restrictions on women: Shrines have their own rules

Hindustan Times | By, Mumbai
Sep 04, 2016 08:30 PM IST

Praying at the tombs of religious men and women is not an essential principle in Islam and fundamentalist sects discourage the practice, dismissing it as ‘grave worship’

 

If the shrine’s trust goes to the Supreme Court, their lawyers will argue that the restrictions were placed because shariat (religious laws) prohibited women from touching the tomb inside the sanctum.(HT File Photo)
If the shrine’s trust goes to the Supreme Court, their lawyers will argue that the restrictions were placed because shariat (religious laws) prohibited women from touching the tomb inside the sanctum.(HT File Photo)

Trustees of Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah will be in Delhi this week to consult lawyers about their plans to challenge the Bombay high court’s order that lifted the restrictions on women devotees inside the shrine’s sanctum. 

Hindustan Times - your fastest source for breaking news! Read now.

If the shrine’s trust goes to the Supreme Court, their lawyers will argue that the restrictions were placed because shariat (religious laws) prohibited women from touching the tomb inside the sanctum. After the Mumbai court’s verdict, Sohail Khandwani, a businessman and a member of the trust, had said that while the court talked about treating everyone equally, the constitution also allowed every Indian citizen to protect his religious rights. Khandwani said that the court’s order is against the constitutional right to practice religion. 

It is not clear whether women were always banned from the sanctum – while the trust said that the restrictions has always been there, the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA), which fought the ban, contest this claim. Women now are made to stand some distance away from the tomb, but Noorjehan Safia Niaz, co-founder of BMMA, said that when she had visited the shrine in 2011, there were no such restrictions. 

Praying at the tombs of religious men and women is not an essential principle in Islam and fundamentalist sects discourage the practice, dismissing it as ‘grave worship’, but despite the growing influence of radical streams Sufi shrines are popular among those who prefer a more eclectic form of worship that incorporates mysticism, singing, dancing and offerings. 

A powerful argument against the ban on women from the comes from Yusuf Baugwala, a Mumbai Central resident, who believes that the saints have intercession powers – to pray to God on behalf of the devotees. According to Baugwala, the dargahs are among the most secular religious places. “Though the shrines are managed by Muslim wakfs – religious trusts – anyone can pray there and take part in rituals,” said Baugwala. “If there is no discrimination on the basis of caste, religion and race at these shrines, how can there be gender discrimination?” 

Baugwala’s wife, who, as an intervener, supported the Haji Ali petitioners, said they have been to dargahs across the world. “We have been to the Abdul Qadir Jilani shrine in Baghdad which does not stop women from entering the sanctum. This dargah is much older than the shrines in India,” said Baugwala who described that one section of the burial chamber is reserved for women. 

Zeenat Shaukat Ali, former head of the department of Islamic studies at St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, said that there is no scriptural ban on the presence of women in places of worship. The scriptures are the Koran – which is believed to be God’s revelation to Muhammad, Islam’s prophet – and the Hadith- which comprises the prophet’s sayings and explanations to Koranic verses. “There is no such injunction. On the other hand, there are certain verses that say that men and women are equal spiritually,” said Ali who added that Muhammad’s wife lived in the room where he was buried. The chamber also held the tombs of the first two caliphs of Islam. “The prophet was buried in her living quarters and she spent the rest of life there. So where is the question of her not coming and touching the tomb?” 

The caretakers of the Moinuddin Chisti dargah, Ajmer, the most important Sufi shrine in the country, have a different view. The shrine has no restrictions on the entry of women, but that is because the saint wanted it that way, said S M Hameed Chisty, a member of the family that manages the shrine. “The restrictions have nothing to do with religion, but if the belief is that the saint did not want women near the grave, the rule is followed,” said Chisty who said that the Nizamuddin and Qutbuddin Baktiyar Kaki shrines in Delhi have restrictions on entry of women. The Kaki shrine, said Chisty, does not allow men near the second tomb which is of a woman. 

manoj.nair@hindustantimes.com

SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON
Share this article
  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    author-default-90x90

    Manoj R Nair is part of Hindustan Times’ nationwide network of correspondents that brings news, analysis and information to its readers.

SHARE
Story Saved
Live Score
OPEN APP
Saved Articles
Following
My Reads
Sign out
New Delhi 0C
Friday, March 29, 2024
Start 14 Days Free Trial Subscribe Now
Follow Us On