After women activists intensify their protests seeking entry into Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, Muslim women groups on Thursday staged a protest demanding entry into Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai.
Professor of Islamic studies Zeenat Shaukat Ali, who was one of the protestors, said that it was 'male patriarchy', not religion, which was imposing restrictions on women.
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"I am an Islamic Scholar and nowhere in Islam is it said that women cannot go to graveyards. This is the dictum of the prophet. When Islam has not excluded women, then why should male patriarchy dominate. Male patriarchy is dominating the Hindus, Male patriarchy is dominating the Muslims," she told ANI.
She further said that discrimination against women was against the tenets of Islam.
"This is against what Islam has taught. The Constitution has given you equal rights, Islam is supporting the Constitution," she added.
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A Muslim women's rights group is locked in a bitter legal battle with trustees of the Haji Ali Dargah, which barred women's entry into mosque's mausoleum in 2011
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While defending its ban on women, the Haji Ali Dargah trust had reportedly said that it was a "grievous sin" as per Islam for women to be in close proximity of the grave of a male Muslim saint.
The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has petitioned the Bombay High Court seeking a ruling that the ban is unconstitutional.