Gender Jihad: Women Reclaiming Spaces in Mosques
By
Mushtaq Ul Haq Ahmad Sikander, New Age Islam
14 June
2023
Women
in Masjid: A Quest For Justice
Author:
Ziya Us Salam
Publisher:
Bloomsbury India, Delhi, India
Year
of Publication: 2019
Pages:
190, Price: Rs 499
ISBN:
9789388912013
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Women in
Islam have been granted an equal status to that of men, but due to the
patriarchal interpretation and institutional misogyny the rights of women have
been curtailed. Muslim women have been marginalized doubly, primarily because
of patriarchy and secondly due to the wrongful misogynist interpretation of
Islam. This patriarchal interpretation of Islam has further, deprived the legal
and religious rights of Muslim women, thus retrograding her status further in
society and family. Muslims like any believers uphold their religion very
seriously, so how the religion is interpreted to justify any ruling, is going
to have huge influence, impact and repercussions for the genders. In a
patriarchal system, both men and women are the victims, and it takes huge cudgels
and strong activism to decimate it. Even when a gender just system that Islam
espoused through Holy Quran and life of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), patriarchy
still has not been annihilated. In fact patriarchy and misogyny is so strong
that it made inroads in Islamic theology and Shariah was constructed on its
basis. Thus, we have a skewed, biased, patriarchal, misogynistic Shariah and
Jurisprudence.
To
understand the grave and gross roots of patriarchy, that have even rendered
Islam as patriarchal by its misinterpretation. This misinterpretation certainly
is manifested in the form of closing doors of mosques to Muslim women,
particularly in South Asia. The debarring of women from mosques certainly is a
manifestation of factual reality of considering them unequal’s. The Muslim
women are not supposed to enjoy the right to worship in public spaces. This
justification for debarring women has been articulated exploiting Islam. This
exploitation of Islam to deprive half of the population, has led to the social conditioning
that finds men in mosques and women praying in the confines of their homes.
Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) presented a model of mosque, where women used to pray. Thus,
the author and veteran journalist Ziya Us Salam, in this book writes in the
Preface “It is time for women to reclaim the space they have surrendered. And
time for men to stand up against this injustice perpetuated in the name of
faith.” (P-xv) In South Asia, we find mosques to be a monopoly of Muslim men.
Women face a lot of problems while entering a mosque. The women are also
excluded from the congregational Friday prayers too. Hence, women are deprived
from the religious inculcation. They are not able to know more about Islam,
through sermons delivered on Fridays. Muslim women further have been excluded
from attending the funeral prayers, however they attend funeral prayers in
Saudi Arabia. Also in Pakistan, a number of women participated in the funeral
prayers of noted lawyer, human and gender rights activist Asma Jahangir. This
is a revolutionary trend.
This
exclusion of women from mosques is not homogenous and holistic all-over South
Asia, because mosques belonging to Ahle Hadith, Jamaat e Islami and Shias have
spaces for women. They may not have been conceived and constructed keeping in
mind the needs of women, but they do offer spaces to women. The mosques in U.S
and U.K too have a space for women, playing area for kids and infants. But it
is quite lamentable, that the South Asians belonging to the conservative
misogynistic sects of Islam, who have settled down in Europe have again denied
spaces to women in religious institutions. Some scholars observe that Hanafi
juristic school of thought is prevalent in South Asia, be it in its Deobandi or
Barelvi version, they have debarred women from mosques. But the practice of
Hanafism, again is quite relative given its context. “Turkey, like India, has a
huge number of followers of the Hanafi sect. However, what is followed in India
is not necessarily followed in Turkey. Cultural relativity rather than
principles of a sect is paramount.” (P-91). In South Asia, the followers of Abu
Hanifa deprive space to women in mosques, that is allowed by Hanafis in Turkey,
as they are different from each other. Now in Scottish Muslim community, women
are demanding space in mosques as well as in decision making too. It is quiet
an interesting campaign.
Many
progressive women scholars like Amina Wadud have been advocating for mixed
gender prayers and she even led one such prayer, but for Ziya, “The mixed
gender Saffs (Queue for the prayers) could well be the innovation the Prophet
warned about.” (P-77) It is quite surprising, that such facts have been
constructed as innovation by Ziya. Women like Umm e Warraqa (RA), used to lead
prayers during Prophet (pbuh)s time, something that is skipped by Ziya.
Similarly,
Ziya is aware about the changes that are taking place in the Muslim communities
in different parts of the world. Hence, the future looks bright, “If
Indonesia-Sufi influences can be added, and Indian influences sandpapered away,
the future may just be smoother than the past.” (P-83) However, it is a sad
reality today that spaces for women in mosques are not abundantly available. To
add insult to injury even the mosques that have been built by women during the
medieval times, too do not concede space to women. It is indeed a catastrophe
that women in this part of the world have to resist and fight for entry into
Dargah Haji Ali, Sabrimala and now masjids. But, it is quite heartening to see
that women are campaigning to reclaim their spaces in mosques, while using
technology to break old misogynist stereotypes.
This book
is a must read for anyone who is involved in the gender just struggle and
campaigning for the right of women to offer prayers in mosques. Now even the
conservative All India Muslim Personal law Board (AIMPLB), too has accepted
their defeat and conceded the ground, while stating that women can have spaces
in mosques for prayers and they are advocating the same. This book, and
pressure from the rightwing BJP certainly is making inroads to drive this
change. The author needs to be congratulated for this work, that has
highlighted the need for praying spaces in mosques for women. It is a step
further towards the cause of Gender Jihad.
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M.H.A. Sikander is Writer-Activist based in
Srinagar, Kashmir
URL: https://newageislam.com/books-documents/gender-jihad-women-mosques/d/129990
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