Muslim women’s right group is locked in a bitter legal battle with trustees of Mumbai’s Haji Ali Dargah. Women have been prevented from entering to the mosque’s mausoleum since 2011, with its trust saying close female proximity to the tomb of a revered saint is “a grievous sin” in Islam. Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) has petitioned the Bombay high court seeking a ruling that the ban is unconstitutional.

“A positive ruling would set a precedent and would have a wider and long-term effect,” BMMA co-founder Noorjehan Niaz said. “It would send a message and encourage women of all religions who are barred from entering places of worship to approach courts with similar demands,” she added.

“They’ve said women are impure. But menstruation is a natural event and responsible for the entire of humanity being born. How can it be dirty? It’s a ridiculous and demeaning argument,” she said.

“The shrine is symbolic for people of all castes, all religions and countries. It’s an iconic place and people travel from all over the world to visit it. How can you bar somebody from entering the sanctum just because she is a woman? The decision was anti-women and anti-Islamic and we had no option but to go to court. It was the last resort,” Niaz added.

“To insist that they be allowed into the tomb is against the religion,” Maulana Mustaqeem Azmi, a member of the nonprofit All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said.

“There are lots of temples where women are not allowed. If you go through each individual case it will be an endless exercise so you have to have state intervention,” prominent rights lawyer Mihir Desai stated. “Courts also like to restrain themselves from ruling on religious issues. Whether the court will deliver a verdict in favour of the women is very doubtful,” he added.

By Premji