In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has mentioned that nowhere in the Quran does it say that women are not allowed entry into mosques. It urged the apex court to ignore any fatwas that contradict the tenet.
The submission was made in response to one of two pleas filed in 2018 amid the white heat of the Sabarimala row. Pune-based Muslim couple Yasmeen Peerzade and her husband Zuber Ahmad Nazir had filed a petition contesting that "there is nothing in the Quran that disallows women from entering mosques" and that any act of prohibiting women from expressing her faith "is not only repugnant to the basic dignity of a woman as an individual but also in violation of the fundamental rights as per the Constitution."
VP Suhara, president of the Progressive Muslim Women's Forum too had approached the apex court in 2018 regarding the matter of women's entry into mosques.
“Women face severe discrimination in Kerala’s mosques. We will move the Supreme Court to end this. No Muslim who is a follower of Prophet Muhammad will sideline women,” Suhara had said.
The development comes in the wake of Supreme Court announcing on Tuesday that its nine-judge Constitution bench would wrap up within 10 days proceedings in the matter relating to discrimination against women in places of worship including Kerala's Sabarimala Temple.
The other matters that will be discussed include the entry of Muslim women into mosques, female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra Muslim community and barring of Parsi women, married to non-Parsi men, from the holy fireplace at Agiary.
(With inputs from agencies)
