Entry of women into mosques to offer prayers, as per Islamic texts, is permitted, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) said in an affidavit submitted before the Supreme Court. It also said any fatwa barring the entry of women “may be ignored”. The submission was made in response to a plea filed by a Pune-based couple seeking the apex court directions to allow women to enter a mosque and offer prayers.
Women are not prohibited from entering mosques under Islamic tenets, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board told the Supreme Court. “Islam permits the entry of women into mosques. However, unlike men, it is not mandatory for them to offer Friday prayers or attend congregational prayers,” the Muslim body said in an affidavit filed in response to a petition seeking that women be allowed to “worship at all mosques”.
There is no bar on women and men praying together either, it added.
“(We have) taken a stand as per Islamic texts that the entry of woman into mosques for namaz be permitted. Any other ‘fatwa’ to this effect may be ignored,” news agency IANS quoted the Muslim body as saying in its affidavit.
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