Women in Masjid: A Quest for Justice

By Ziya Us Salam

Why do we not see Muslim women heading to a mosque for prayers on Fridays?

Why don't they participate in funeral prayers in the Indian subcontinent?

Men and women pray at al-Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. They pray in Al Masjid al Nabavi in Medina. Why cannot they pray in their neighbourhood mosques in India?

Islam does not discriminate between men and women. The Quran promises as much reward for a roza (fast), a Hajj or an act of charity for a woman as a man. At nearly 60 places, it asks both men and women to establish prayer, as opposed to merely offering prayer. Establishing prayer, scholars agree, is done through congregation. Men do it by praying in mosques. But what about women? They are denied the right to enter mosques across the Indian subcontinent.

Women in Masjid: A Quest for Justice aims to give voice to those women who have been denied their due by our patriarchal society. It tells the reader that Prophet Muhammad clearly permitted women to enter a mosque. It is a permission well respected in mosques across West Asia, Europe and America. Yet, in an overwhelming majority of mosques across India, women are virtually barred from entry. No explicit ban, just a tacit one.

Drawing its arguments from the Quran and Hadiths, the book exposes the hypocrisy of men who deny women their right to pray in mosques in the name of religion, thus revealing entrenched patriarchal beliefs masquerading as faith. It also tells the stories of those brave women who are fighting for their space in mosques across the world. From Nizamuddin and Haji Ali Dargah to mosques in lanes and bylanes of India, the fight is on. Women in Masjid is all about righting a historical wrong.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Oct 18, 2019
• ISBN: 9789388912037

Book preview

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CHAPTER 1

Through the Lens of Faith

Islam does not discriminate between men and women. Why do men?

The Quran regards men and women to be each other’s partners. It clearly tells the husbands that their wives have the same rights unto them as they have unto them. Except that men are a degree superior. This one-degree superiority of men, meant to resolve any deadlock in a marital relationship, has been turned into a 360-degree advantage by men across the Indian subcontinent. The Quran asks men and women to establish prayer, through Surah Tawbah [verse 71], besides around sixty other places. It asks both men and women to pay zakat, that is, poor due. It makes no distinction on the basis that women may not be professionals, or earning a salary at the end of the month. The Quran expects both men and women to perform hajj once in a lifetime, their resources and health permitting. At no place does the Quran put impediments in the path of women. No matrimonial match can be solemnised without the woman’s consent. If it comes to divorce, the Quran provides the woman a way out too. After divorce, men are told that a woman is free to do what she chooses to do with herself. Neither first marriage nor second marriage nor remarriage can be conducted without the woman’s independent will.

Pertinently, the Quran treats pious men and women equally. In fact, through Surah Ahzab it tells us that there are rewards for both believing men and believing women, chaste men and chaste women, etc. Likewise, for men given to promiscuity, there are similar women. In this respect, particularly telling are three verses, 34 to 36, of the Surah that put things in perspective and give ten traits of equality between men and women. Though technically, these verses are addressed to the wives of the Prophet, they are applicable to all Muslim women. Here, verse 34 of Surah Ahzab clearly states, ‘And bear in mind that which is recited in your houses of the revelations of Allah and wisdom. Lo, Allah is Subtle, Aware.’ The next verse talks clearly about believing men and believing women, making no distinction on the basis of gender and promises equal rewards to both for their good actions. It states,

Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and the humble women, the charitable men and the charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so—for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.

So, there is equal reward for a truthful person, irrespective of the gender. Same goes for acts of charity, fasting, modesty, etc. Will God discriminate on the basis of gender when it comes to salat, the daily prayer, or special prayers like Friday, or Taraweeh? No. He does not. The Quran through Surah Dhariyat says, ‘I created the jinn and humankind only that they might worship Me.’ The Prophet actively encouraged women to offer Friday prayers and those on Eid in a congregation.

In Islam, whether a man or a woman goes on hajj, the reward is the same. The conditions remain the same for giving zakat. It is only when it comes to salat that men have infused something out of the ordinary, something which the Prophet did not approve of. There are many Hadiths of the Prophet asking men not to stop women from going to mosques, or instructing women that the best place for them to offer salat in a mosque is behind men—the best place for a man is in the front row, whereas for a woman it is in the last row. It was gender division, not gender injustice. Yet the way things have taken place in our society, men, at least in the Indian subcontinent, have decided that the best place for women to offer prayers is not in the last row of the congregation in a mosque, but outside the mosque, in the innermost chamber of their houses!

Incidentally, the reason for women to be in the last rows had nothing to do with women’s status, but with men’s biological weakness. Prayer in Islam, besides being a spiritually uplifting act, is also a physical action involving resting on the knees and going down in prostration. In other words, what in modern terms involves a compromising position; when a person prostrates in prayer, his nose and forehead touch the ground as do his palm and feet, while the back is in a raised position. Hence to safeguard a woman from a man’s unwanted gaze, it was thought best that women stand behind men. They still prayed in the same hall on the same floor, not in another room. Noted author Kamala Das, who embraced Islam in the autumn of her life, puts it aptly, ‘When a woman kneels behind an imam, she is unlikely to yield to temptation but if a woman is leading the prayers men kneeling behind might look at her haunches, at her curves. Why give them such a chance?’¹

This modern-day exclusion of women from the prayer space stems from a patriarchal mindset where men are supposed to decide and women are supposed to follow. According to this mindset, good believing men decide with kindness and good believing women obey without question. It goes against the letter and spirit of the Quran, particularly, verse 36 of Surah Ahzab that states,

And it is not befitting for a believing man or a believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided an affair (for them), that they should (after that) claim any say in their affair; and whoso is rebellious to Allah and His Messenger, he verily goeth astray in error manifest.

Rather than women who wish to pray in a mosque going astray, it is the men who prevent them from doing so who are guilty of going astray.

Also, through instances from the life of the Prophet, Muslim men and women have been given examples of what to do and what to avoid. While the Quran asks both men and women to establish prayer, observe fast, give charity, etc., the Prophet is known to have said that the best man is the one who is the best to his wife. And as a mother, the Prophet gave women thrice the rights of the father. Thus, the first right on a child is that of his mother and second and third right too, whereas the man has only 25 per cent right.

No wife of the Prophet ever changed her name, ranging from the forty-year-old twice-widowed Khadijah, who was the richest businessperson of her era, to the nine-year-old Ayesha. They always retained their maiden names. Khadijah was always Khadijah bint Khuwaylid and Ayesha was always Ayesha Siddiqa. Neither of them ever became Khadijah Muhammad or Ayesha Muhammad. Even though they were married to the Prophet, their distinct identities remained intact. They were never regarded as Mrs Muhammad, but always as individuals or mothers of the faithful. In fact, a vast number of Hadiths have come down to us through the narration by Ayesha. Similarly, Khadijah not only stood by the Prophet like a rock, but also gave the entire earnings from her business to the Prophet for the spread of Islam. It is pertinent to recall that when the first revelation came to Prophet Muhammad through angel Jibrail, Muhammad started to sweat from head to toe. Shivering, he went to his wife Khadijah who not only covered him in a blanket, but also believed him when he told her about the visit of the angel and assured him that Allah will not allow his life to go waste as he was a truthful man, always helpful to others. She was the first person to believe the word of the Prophet. The year Khadijah died, as also the Prophet’s uncle Talib, he called it the Year of Sorrow. After she had passed away, he remained in touch with her near and dear ones, often sending them gifts in remembrance of his wife.

As for Ayesha, she virtually grew up in the house of the Prophet. She used to accompany him as part of the caravan. Once, the Prophet and she were going along with the Prophet’s companions in a caravan. The Prophet slowed down, allowing the caravan to proceed ahead of him. As Ayesha and he were left behind, he challenged his wife to a race. Ayesha was game. She was young, probably in the spring of her life. She defeated her husband in the race. Later, the two joined the caravan.

The Prophet was not done though. He waited for a second chance. It did not come his way soon, but when it did, he made the most of it. Once again, the Prophet, accompanied by his wife, was going in a caravan across the Arab desert. Once again, he slowed down, letting his companions move ahead. Once more, he challenged Ayesha to a race. She was sporting too. The two had another race. This time she lost and the Prophet exhaled, ‘Now, we are equal!’ Such was his relationship with the women in his life. Such was the importance the Prophet gave to his wives. Now compare this with the actions of the average Muslim man in the subcontinent: Men decide and women acquiesce. It starts with the nikahnama and goes on to almost every aspect of their relationship, culminating in the mosques becoming the monopoly of men.

At the time of marriage, hardly any terms and conditions are written down in the nikahnama. Terms, such as the stipulation that the marriage should not end with the promulgation of talaq-e-biddat or instant triple talaq and that the man should not take a second wife without the written permission of his first wife, were often present in the nikahs solemnised in medieval India. Today, they have all but disappeared. It is a right conferred upon women by Islam. It is a right taken away by men. Just as they have done with prayers in mosques, at times deliberately, but more so out of sheer ignorance of the dictates of the Quran.

Most Muslim men, and indeed women, do not know the rights and duties conferred upon them by the Quran. A vast majority of people do not know Arabic, so they read the Quran without understanding it, only to get rewarded in the hereafter. Not surprisingly, here is forgotten in this quest for hereafter. Additionally, the maulanas who are often called upon to teach a child the Quran are themselves usually unaware of the contents of the Quran. In their younger days, they would have learnt the Quran by heart without understanding a verse of it. They follow the same method in teaching. As a result, a man might have completed the first reading of this entire book by teenage, but is unaware of any of its