It's stupid say the Muslim working women in Bangalore

Muslim working women in city lash out against Darul Uloom Deoband's reported ruling that terms it unislamic for women to work with men

Muslim working women in city lash out against Darul Uloom Deoband's reported ruling that terms it unislamic for women to work with men

A day after Darul Uloom Deoband reportedly deemed it unislamic for Muslim women to work alongside men, MiD DAY asked Muslims in the city - working women as well as scholars - for their take on the influential seminary's ruling.

not my islam: According to Nuzhath Jabeen, the MD of Business Pleasure, the Quran places no restrictions on working women. Pic/Vinod Kumar T

Nuzhath Jabeen (27), a mother, homemaker and entrepreneur who runs her own event management company, said she disagreed with the ruling.

"I quit school in Std VI to help out at my father's tailoring shop because I had to fend for my family of eight. I find the Darul Uloom's ruling totally wrong. The Quran places no restrictions on working women. Moreover, when it comes to married women working with men, it is all a matter of trust, and my husband trusts me completely."

Deoband misquoted?

Not everyone agreed with Jabeen's sentiments.
Azmatullah Zatan, the qazi of Hyderabad, said, "The fatwa is right. Women must not work near men who get easily distracted because it is in their nature."

Maqsood Jamia, the acting head priest at the Jamia Mosque in Bangalore, said, "It is possible that Deoband was misquoted. However, when men and women work together, it leads to a lot of confusion. This explains why the new fatwa was announced."

Unreliable reports
Dr Zafrul Islam, former president of the All India Muslim Mujlis Musharawath, said he was not sure how reliable media reports like the one on the fatwa were.
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u00a0"I am against such decrees. It is not Islamic. While certain problems can be avoided if men and women do not work in an enclosed environment, I personally see no harm in doing so."

Zakia Soman of the Bharathiya Muslim Mahila Andolan said she doubted the knowledge of Darul Uloom Deoband. "The fatwa is completely against the spirit of the Constitution and Islam. No such law exists in the Quran. It's a stupid pronouncement because such times require women to be self-sufficient. I don't know why such archaic and pre-historic comments were made."

Professor Khurshid Yasmin, principal, Abbas Khan College, an all women's institution, said, "When Prophet Mohammed's wife herself went about collecting taxes, such a fatwa should not have been issued because it is based on an incorrect understanding of the Quran. I see no problem with men and women working together as long as women keep to Muslim traditions."