12-01-2007, 03:28 AM
<b>Fatwa after historic namaaz </b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Cuttack, Nov. 29: A fatwa has banned women praying in public after about 50 women made history last Friday by offering namaaz near a Cuttack mosque.
The act of defiance led by a womenâs organisation had rocked Cuttackâs clergy, who called a meeting of imams and committee heads of all the major 33 mosques in the city.
After the meeting, Wajhul Qamar, the mufti of the Anjuman-Islamia Ahle Sunnat--Jamaat, issued the fatwa (religious edict), which will be adopted by the imams of all the 33 mosques from tomorrow.
âThe fatwa asks the imams to enlighten Muslim men on the Shariat (code of law derived from the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed), especially on the code of conduct for women, through their discourses during Friday prayers,â Anjuman secretary M.A. Ahad said.
âThis, we hope, will be effective in bringing in self-regulation among women through their husbands.â
<b>The edict, said to be the first of its kind, said women offering namaaz at mosques is âun-Islamicâ.</b>
<b>âWomen should not enter mosques as the Shariat prohibits them from doing so,â mufti Qamar said.</b>
On November 23, the women, aged between 18 and 40, had gathered at the entrance to the Mir Kamalpatna Masjid in the Manglabad locality around 2.30pm. They were led by the Orissa Muslim Womenâs Welfare Organisation.
No one stopped the women but the lack of room in the mosque prompted them to move to a nearby madarsa compound and offer their prayers in full public view.
Farhat Amin, secretary, Orissa Muslim Womenâs Welfare Organisation, later claimed in a media statement that her organisation âhad no intention to participate in prayers inside any mosqueâ.
âNeither did the women have any intention of offering Friday prayers, nor did they seek permission,â it said. Amin alleged she was misquoted in newspaper reports.
Ahad disagreed. âThe Anjuman had confirmed that the women had gathered under the banner of a Muslim womenâs welfare organisation according to a scheduled programme to offer prayers at the mosque,â he said.
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The act of defiance led by a womenâs organisation had rocked Cuttackâs clergy, who called a meeting of imams and committee heads of all the major 33 mosques in the city.
After the meeting, Wajhul Qamar, the mufti of the Anjuman-Islamia Ahle Sunnat--Jamaat, issued the fatwa (religious edict), which will be adopted by the imams of all the 33 mosques from tomorrow.
âThe fatwa asks the imams to enlighten Muslim men on the Shariat (code of law derived from the Quran and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed), especially on the code of conduct for women, through their discourses during Friday prayers,â Anjuman secretary M.A. Ahad said.
âThis, we hope, will be effective in bringing in self-regulation among women through their husbands.â
<b>The edict, said to be the first of its kind, said women offering namaaz at mosques is âun-Islamicâ.</b>
<b>âWomen should not enter mosques as the Shariat prohibits them from doing so,â mufti Qamar said.</b>
On November 23, the women, aged between 18 and 40, had gathered at the entrance to the Mir Kamalpatna Masjid in the Manglabad locality around 2.30pm. They were led by the Orissa Muslim Womenâs Welfare Organisation.
No one stopped the women but the lack of room in the mosque prompted them to move to a nearby madarsa compound and offer their prayers in full public view.
Farhat Amin, secretary, Orissa Muslim Womenâs Welfare Organisation, later claimed in a media statement that her organisation âhad no intention to participate in prayers inside any mosqueâ.
âNeither did the women have any intention of offering Friday prayers, nor did they seek permission,â it said. Amin alleged she was misquoted in newspaper reports.
Ahad disagreed. âThe Anjuman had confirmed that the women had gathered under the banner of a Muslim womenâs welfare organisation according to a scheduled programme to offer prayers at the mosque,â he said.
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