Muslim women allowed to enter mosques, offer Namaz: AIMPLB quotes Islamic texts

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board said it is "consistent in its opinion with reference to Islamic texts that there is no restriction on Muslim women entering mosques and offering congregational prayers.”

Lucknow: In a statement released to the media, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said that the board is “consistent in its opinion with reference to Islamic texts that there is no restriction on Muslim women entering mosques and offering congregational prayers”. The reaction came after the board filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that the entry of women into mosques for offering namaz (Muslim prayers) is permitted.

“However, free intermixing of genders in the same line or common space is not in confirmity with the position prescribed in Islam and that needs to be taken care of by segregation of space within the premises by the management committee, if possible," the AIMPLB said. The board has also said that “even in Mecca and Medina there is no inter mingling of men and women allowed”.

"A Muslim woman is free to enter a Masjid (Mosque) for prayers. She had an option to exercise her right to avail such facilities as available for prayers in a masjid," it said. The affidavit has been filed by AIMPLB in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by Farha Anwar Hussain back in 2020 seeking entry of Muslim women into mosques.

The board has told the court that women in Islam have the option to choose to offer prayers either at a mosque or at their home. The AIMPLB submitted that practices of religion in mosques are regulated by Muttawalis and mosques and should not be interfered by the court. It contended that the court "cannot enter into the arena of detailed arrangements of a religious place, which is completely privately managed entity for religious practices of believers in religion".

The AIMPLB further said that the Masjid An Nabawi in Medina has separate spaces/chambers for men and women inside the mosque. In the area surrounding the Masjid An-Nabawi, designated and separate spaces are available for men and women worshippers with temporary barricades in place demarcating them, reads the statement.

"The etiquettes of prayer, particularly no free inter mixing of both sexes are adhered to willingly, strictly, and sincerely, by all worshippers whether men or women," it said.