The Rights of Women in Islam by Asghar Ali Engineer

Are the religious and political leaders of the community listening to their voices? Muslim women suffering the patriarchal religious structures have clearly given their verdict – they want liberation from the patriarchal mindset with which their religious institutions are run. Muslim women, according to the survey, were overwhelmingly demanding codification of Muslim family law within Qur’anic framework (Bhalla, 2015). Seventy five per cent of the women were against child marriage. Fatwas have upheld divorce when given in fit of anger, or under influence of liquor, via text messages, over telephone and in one case even in a dream.Ī survey carried out by Bhartiya Muslim Mahila Andolan brings out that ninety per cent of Muslim women are against talaq-e-bidat and polygamy. In the Imrana case, fatwa was issued directing Imrana who was sexually assaulted by her father-in-law to be divorced as she was now haram to her husband. There have been fatwas banning Muslim women from exercising their voting rights, contesting elections, viewing most channels on TV or listening to music. An all Kashmiri girls’ music band was called haram by another fatwa.

In the year 2010 there was a fatwa of Darul-ul-Uloom Deoband opining that Muslim women working in establishments which required interaction with male colleagues was haram (forbidden). Given the socio-economic and educational backwardness of the community, these fatwas cannot be ignored, particularly those against the women who find themselves in a hopeless and helpless situation. It is worth visiting some of the fatwas (opinions of the jurists) issued by the muftis (those who are trained in Islamic jurisprudence and authorized to issue fatwas), even though they are not binding.

The Rights of Women in Islam by Asghar Ali Engineer