Professional Maulvis and Amateur Fatwas

It is heartening that Muslim youth are responding to the call of the time. Here is a small article by Shaddan Alam, a student of Aligarh Muslim University. Has anyone ever wondered why no fatwa, is ever issued on those men who drink liquor and then beat their wives? Why no Maulana raises his eyebrow every time a wife is treated cruelly for want of more dowries and threatened with ‘Talaq’ at even a trivial mistake. Why no fatwa ever is issued for constructive works? Has anyone ever heard a fatwa with reference to providing education to the children (Boy and girl both) or to treat the wives with love and dignity? The answer to all the above questions is an unambiguous NO. Infact keeping in view the recent plethora of fatwas issued by the ulemas ‘strictly and squarely on Muslim women’ it appears obvious to say that Muslim women and fatwas go hand in hand, the one without the other find itself bereft of meaning and significance. The claim might sound paranoiac but if one goes by the recent happenings one realizes the gravity of the situation. These spate of fatwas have infact raised a volley of questions- are fatwas meant only for Muslim women? Are they in consensus with the teachings of Quran or are they just the play work of a few ulemas may be eager to hog the limelight. Islam is based on five pillars- tauheed, roza, haj, namaaz, and zakat. Any Muslim women who abide by these principles ought to be called a Muslim in a real sense. This is what Islam teaches us. I am a Muslim girl who read namaaz, keeps roza and believe in Allah but I don’t wear a veil. But this does not mean that I am less religious than those girls who wear a veil. Belief in religion is a matter of one’s own personal choice, which I don’t need to carry on my sleeves. These days issuing fatwas seems to have become a favorite pastime of the Ulemas. Who can forget Gudia caught between her two husbands? The girl much against her wishes has to abide by the fatwa of going to her first husband because if she did not obeyed she would have been considered a non-religious person. The most obnoxious was the fatwa on Imrana- a married woman raped by her father in law. Instead of punishing the culprit the ulemas blamed the victim and tendered her marriage as haram. In doing so the Maulvis boasted of following the shariat but in reality it was a one sided and selective interpretation of shariat. Since the other side of shariat says that the perpetrator of crime should be stoned to death in full public view. But the Maulanas remained quite on this issue. In all aspect while men are considered as innocent creatures it is the women who are regarded as the most sinful. Recently it was held by Darul Uloom in UP that Muslim women could not contest elections unless they wore a veil. But why wasn’t a similar fatwa issued to men too that only those Muslim men could contest who have a beard and wear sherwanis? Let us stop treating women as a mere puppet and shed away the belief that the beleaguered Muslim women are like wet clay who could be turned and twisted as per the need of the male chauvinism. Will there ever be an end to this fundamentalist indoctrination? Indoubtably it is not an easy task to attack this claustrophobia of outmoded values, unsavory fatwas and cold-blooded patriarchy. But a distinction needs to be made between a women’s right and freedom in relation with the teachings of holy Quran and their interpretation or rather misinterpretation by the ulemas. Let their be a few women ulemas too who can issue fatwas on Muslim men in accordance with what they consider as immoral and perhaps only then equality can be maintained. And as I conclude I am reminded of the grim reality that I am above all a Muslim girl and who knows a fatwa for me too might be in the offing for expressing my views and opinion.