Entry Of Women Into Mosques For Namaz Permitted: Muslim Law Board
The Supreme Court was informed on Wednesday by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) that it is acceptable for women to enter mosques and perform namaz there.
A Muslim woman is free to enter a mosque for prayers, according to the board, and she has the choice to exercise her freedom to use whatever facilities offered for prayers in a mosque.
This was stated by the AIMPLB in an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, which is considering a case involving Muslim women entering mosques to perform namaz.
“It is submitted that the questions raised in the present petition are not in the background of state action. The practices of religion in the places of worship (which in the present matter are mosques) are purely private bodies regulated by ‘Muttawalis’ of the mosques,” the affidavit, filed through advocate M R Shamshad, said.
In a case submitted in 2020, one Farha Anwar Hussain Shaikh asked the Supreme Court to rule that it is unlawful and unconstitutional for Muslim women in India to be denied admission to mosques. The Supreme court will probably hear the plea in March.
According to the affidavit, the AIMPLB can only provide advisory opinions based on Islamic principles because it is an organisation of specialists without any state authority.
It declared that the AIMPLB and the highest court, for that matter, cannot interfere with the specific plans made for a place of worship that is entirely privately run and used for religious activities by adherents of a particular religion. According to the affidavit, there are temporary measures made by erecting barricades to create separation between male and female worshippers during the prayer when conducting namaz around the Kaaba in Mecca.
“The etiquettes of prayer, particularly no free inter-mixing of both sexes, are adhered to willingly, strictly, and sincerely by all worshippers whether men or women,” it said.
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