Journalist Ziya Us Salam Seeks Impleadment In Plea For Entry Of Muslim Women Into Mosques Pending Before SC[Read Application]

The Applicant has pointed out that while there is no explicit ban for women to enter mosques in India but, there is a tacit ban inasmuch as there is no separate entry for women, no separate ablution area for them, etc. This practice, it has been contended, is against the tenets of Quran and Hadith.

He has contended that neither the Quran nor the Hadith bars the entry of Muslim women in mosques. In fact, he submitted, in Quran at nearly 60 places, Allah asks both men and women to "establish" prayer, as opposed to merely offering prayer.

He submitted,

"Praying in isolation does not amount to establishing prayer. Prophet Mohammad permitted women to enter mosque…

There are many verses in the Quran and Hadith (BukhariShareef and Sahih Muslim) in which the Prophet has in fact encouraged the women to pray in mosque."

It has been submitted that when the muezzin makes a call for offering prayers, he invites everybody "without any discrimination on the basis of gender". Thus, "the practical ban on women to enter mosque in India violates her right to establish prayer in Mosque, which is permitted and encouraged by the Quran and Hadith."

Last year, Yasmeen Zuber Ahmad Peerzade and Zuber Ahmad Nazir Ahmad Peerzade, a Pune-based couple had approached the Supreme Court seeking entry of Muslim women in mosques across the country and claiming that such restriction was "unconstitutional" and violative of fundamental rights to life, equality and gender justice.

In October 2019, a bench headed by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi issued notices on the petition. While issuing the notice, the Supreme Court had said that it would hear the PIL only because of its judgment in the Sabarimala temple case.

On September 28, 2018, a five-judge constitution bench headed by the then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, in a 4:1 verdict, had paved the way for the entry of women of all ages into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, saying the ban amounted to gender discrimination.

The application has been drawn by Advocate Farrukh Rasheed.

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