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Women muftis to rule on religious matters
Sanjay Pandey, Lucknow:
Maulvis have traditionally enjoyed a monopoly over the right to issue fatwas or religious decrees. Often times, these fatwas (religious decrees) are directed against the womenfolk in the community.
Now, if a bold initiative by the Lucknow-based Islamic University, Nadwa-tul-Ulema, to introduce a course for Muslim girls to train them to become muftis (a person who decides religious cases in the light of the Holy Quran) gathers momentum, the maulvis will get a run for their money.
Needless to say that once the girls graduate as muftis, Nadwa-tul-Ulema’s move could have far-reaching emancipatory consequences. According to Nadwa registrar Mohammad Haroon, 12 Muslim girls are pursuing the course called Fazeelat at different madarsas (Islamic seminaries) in Rae Bareli, Azamgarh and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. “After the successful completion of the course, these girls could then be eligible for a one-year course of iftah, following which they would get the degree of mufti,” Haroon said.
He said that till now girls were not allowed to pursue fazeelat, which is a pre-requisite for the iftah course to become muftis. Muslim clerics and scholars consider it a “great leap” towards women’s empowerment in the Muslim community. “It’s a good sign for Muslim women as it will allow them to stand against the injustices done to them by the menfolk,” said All India Muslim Women Personal Law Board chairperson Shaista Amber. “Only a woman can understand the plight and agony of another woman. If the women become muftis, they will keep in mind their own interests while issuing fatwa,” Amber told Deccan Herald.
She said that in most cases arising out of marital discord, the women are made the targets and victims of fatwas. “While people talk of empowering women, little has been done when it comes to implementing the principles,” she said, adding that her organisation considers it a “victory for the women.”
Mohammad Zahoor, a mufti in Nadwa, says: “It will bring about a great change in their (women’s) position in society.” A few months ago, a Muslim woman priest had donned the mantle of a qazi and solemnised the marriage of a Muslim couple at a glittering function here. Although there is no restriction on women solemnising marriages in Islam, only male priests performed this function traditionally and women priests doing this work was unheard of.
