[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by PyariCgudia: *
balram, i've wondered that myself, but the more I see and observe, the more I realize that we women are much better able to control ourselves than men.
I know it sounds sexist, but hey, its what I see.
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it's all that "seeing and observing" that leads to the said distractions in the first place....
now, this I will say is akin to treating the symptom rather than the disease.
The idea of prayer is to commune with God - OK.
In order to pray, we have to focus and concentrate - OK.
Any sensory perception (not just looking at women) can distract and break the concentration - example, smell of food, stench of whatever, excessive heat of fire, excessive cold of the out door, loud music from a movie.....all that can distract - OK
So the challenge is to learn to control one's senses and focus all energy of your soul on the communion - that's what praying is.
If you agree so far, then you will realize that the real disease is men's (and women's) ability to get distracted that needs cure, not simply removing the distractions from the landscape.
You will find that almost all such apparent contradictions occur because of confusion between cause and effect.
I totally agree with you Balram. I couldnt have said it better myself, and if you notice, one thing I stress out here is the importance of self-control. People dont realize that one reason why we fast for ONE WHOLE MONTH is to train our self-control. Somehow people keep thinking its only about feeling what the poor feel.
I agree that removing the distraction is not the PROBLEM SOLVER. Its something that we muslims have come up with as an additional aide to help us concentrate during our prayers. This does not mean one should forget about self control.
However, reality is that people are not perfect and most people will never gain self-control. Thus, you've gotta have some back-up systems.
Do you think the only reason why women should not pray in front of men is because they cause (physical) distraction?
I assure you, that those muslims who understand the meaning of what they are saying during salah (namaz / prayers), and who are infact communicating with their Creator during this process, wouldn't even look who is next to them or in front of them. Then again, probably not all muslims realize the true essence of Salah and go through the motions. In which case distractions do matter.
But I don't think that is the only reason why women are ordered to pray behind men, and why women can not lead Salah (even if there are only women in the cognregation).
BTW, what I described (gaining control of the bodily senses) is one of the first and basic steps of Sanaathana Dharma (which in fact is the religion of Hindus). The way to get there is in different stages, but that’s a whole big topic by itself.
First of all, let me make a correction. A woman can not lead a congregation of men and women in prayers. A woman, however, can lead a group of women in prayers.
[QUOTE] Originally posted by Faisal: *
First of all, let me make a correction. A woman can not lead a congregation of men and women in prayers. **A woman, however, can lead a group of women in prayers.*
More later.
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Faisal can u please explain that in the light of authentic Hadith?
This is not only the case in Pakistan, but in the indian subcontinent I think, I have a bengali friend who told me that Bengali women are just not expected to go to a mosque, it's simply not in their culture.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by PyariCgudia: *
Pray tell Faisal, what are the other reasons?
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I had thought I will say something more on this topic, but I feel that will instigate a lenghty, time-consuming and potentially going-nowhere debate on the roles and responsibilities of men and women in Islam.
In any case, this topic is about why women in Pakistan do not go to the mosque as often as those in the West go. I suppose we should keep the discussion focussed on this topic.
These days its becoming more common for women to go to mosques in Pakistan. Especially for Ramzaan during Taraweehs. Even during normal days, women collect separately in some female neighbor's house and all pray ba-jamaat, for example on Eid in the villages...so it does happen though not as much :)
they are rviks.. although there is some stupid stipulation on them to be accompanied by a 'mehram'.. what can u do.. there is a 'qabza group' on Ka'aba and it's their way or the highway.