PATNA WOMEN FIND FOOTHOLD IN MOSQUES
FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Patna, Nov. 24:
The north wind of change blowing through the Muslim community has swept
to the east. Women in Delhi went to pray in mosques breaking the
shackles of custom; Lucknow followed suit; and now Patna is breasting
the breeze.
The city’s Muslim women are taking on the fundamentalists to demand
relaxation of the prohibition on women in religious places. “We have
been growing increasingly impatient with the system that kept us away
from the places of worship. Our generation of educated Muslim women
feels as strongly about God as our male counterparts. Why shouldn’t we
have the chance to express it?” asked Begum Nur Bano, a graduate from
Patna Science College married to a city businessman. She has offered
namaz in mosques with other women on the same floor as the men, albeit
with a curtain separating them.
However, the Muslim-dominated old city is not excited over the
development. The practice of women praying in mosques which began
tentatively a couple of months ago evokes a sceptical response from the
elderly members of the community. “It has started now. But this may just
be an experiment among a section of the minority members. This is yet to
be universally practised,” said a member of an old mosque by the Ganga.
But the practice is catching on fast. In the Golakpur area, Masjid Mulla
Sadman, one of the oldest Shia mosques in the city, has thrown open its
doors to women devotees. The mosque, said to be over 200 years old, was
repaired recently. Since then women can offer prayer with-out any
difficulty, said a mos- que administrator. “They take part in Jumma and
Jumerat. Women feel free to pray here,” he added.
On the posh Exhibition Road stands Masjid Abdul Hai. Women have been
welcome here since it was set up in 1991. After the men take up their
positions, barely half-a-dozen women tiptoe to one corner and kneel down
for the prayers.
“This is spiritually the most enlivening moment of my life… being able
to come here and pray,” said Rukhsana Begum, an employee of the state
housing department.
In fact, Golakpur boasts of an “all-women mosque”. No curtains are
needed at Masjid Hakim Mehdi as the men choose to stay away. Women even
run the administration of the mosque. Sahnaz Begum, the administrator of
this modest institution, says that women have learnt to exercise their
freedom in pray- ing to God. “This is precious, and we guard it
zealously,” she added.
At the same time, the women admit that their participation in some sects
is still extremely restricted.
Putting things in perspective, Maulana Asgar Raja, a researcher on
Islamic law, said allowing women to pray in mosques is an old practice,
but Islam had later prohibited it. “Now in some sects, this old practice
has been resumed, but the subject is still controversial. Most maulvis
do not think that the practice has the sanction of Islam. However, there
is no bad blood among members of the different sects over permission
given to the women to conduct namaz,” he added.