Women allow to offer namaz inside mosques? SC to hear plea filed by Muslim couple

The Supreme Court on Tuesday will hear a petition filed by Muslim couple seeking women (Muslim) allowed to enter the mosques and offer namaz.

A Muslim couple moved to Supreme Court on Monday to file a plea and had urged to declare the debarment of women inside mosques as "illegal and unconstitutional" as it violated the fundamental rights of women guaranteed under the Indian Constitution.

Counsel Ashutosh Dubey, who is representing the couple has mentioned that neither Quran nor Hadith mention of any gender segregation. "....Such practices are not only repugnant to the basic dignity of a woman as an individual but also violative of their fundamental rights...," read the plea.

The couple said that there were no records which states that the Quran and Prophet Muhammad opposed women entering mosques and offering namaz. According to the petitioners beliefs the petitioner also added that it in fact men and women have equal constitutional rights to worship.

Under the Jamaat-e-Islami and Mujahid denominations, women are allowed to offer prayers at mosques but they are barred from mosques under the predominant Sunni faction, said the petition.

"The hon'ble court in the case of Sabraimala held that 'religion cannot be used as cover to deny rights of worship to women as it is against human dignity'. Prohibition on women is due to non-religious reasons and it is a grim shadow of discrimination going on for centuries," the petitioners said.

The petition has arraigned the Union government, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Maharashtra State Board of Wakfs, the Central Wakf Council, and All India Muslim Personal Law Board as parties to the case.