Muslim women law board moots mosques for women

Lucknow: The All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board has proposed the setting up of separate mosques for women to enable them to pray five times a day.

The proposal has created a stir among religious leaders in Uttar Pradesh.

Shaista Amber, president of the All-India Muslim Women Personal Law Board, who mooted the idea, called on ulema and leaders of the community to seriously consider the proposal because it would also help women participate in religious functions.

The Darul Uloom, an Islamic seminary in Deoband, has hit out at the proposal. The deputy in-charge of the edict department at the seminary, Mufti Ehsan Qasmi, said Islam did not permit women to lead prayers.

Amber said yesterday the Quran was not against women offering prayers in mosques. She said women were not allowed to lead a male congregation but could lead women worshippers. She pointed out that more than a dozen girls in Meerut had acquired the degree of maulvi.