New Delhi: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Friday told the Supreme Court of India that Muslim women are allowed to enter mosques and offer namaz, but cannot insist on using the main entrance or demand removal of partitions separating men and women. The submission was made during hearings before a nine-judge Constitution Bench examining religious freedom issues.
Senior advocate M R Shamshad, appearing for the board, said there was consensus across Islamic denominations that women are permitted to enter mosques for prayers. However, he argued that certain discipline and customs regulate how prayers are conducted inside mosques.
“There is no quarrel among religious denominations in
Islam that women can enter mosques, and that too for prayer. But there is certain discipline that has to be followed,” he told the bench, as reported by NDTV.
According to the board, while congregational namaz is obligatory for men, it is not mandatory for women. Counsel told the court that women receive the same religious reward for praying at home, though they are free to attend mosques if they choose.
Chief Justice Surya Kant asked whether women could participate in congregational prayers if they entered a mosque. Shamshad replied that women do join the congregation when they come to pray. Justice Ahsanuddin Amanullah observed that there had historically been no dispute over women entering mosques since the time of the Prophet.
Shamshad further told the court that since a mosque does not have a sanctum sanctorum, no individual can insist on standing at a particular place inside it or claim a right to lead prayers, the NDTV reported.
The arguments were made in response to a writ petition seeking a declaration that Muslim women should be allowed to pray in mosques without restrictions.