Commentary/Venu Menon

A prayer for the fair sex

During Ramzan, women were allowed entry to Imam Ahmed Kutty Maulvi's mosque in Thiruvananthapuram. But many are sharply critical of the move

The Palyam Jammu Masjid stands at the confluence of Thiruvanthapuram's busiest streets. A sprawling market, university buildings, a stadium, church and temple populate its vicinity. The domed structure sits in the middle of the noise and the hurry, spewing its own human stream into the clogged streets. You see the mosque but barely notice it.

Today it commands more than a passing public attention. The nondescript place of worship has redefined its presence in the lives of the teeming multitude seeking solace in the certitude of Islam.

Ahmed Kutty Maulvi, the Imam of Palayam, stands, like his mosque, at the confluence of history. His January 10 decree granting right of entry into the mosque for female worshippers has won him applause for undoing a chauvinistic taboo. But the champions of the status quo, the male-dominated Muslim religious and power elite, accuse him of toying with Islam and mocking the word of the Prophet.

The Imam displays the confidence of a man secure in his vision. He sees his order allowing women into the mosque as an act of pragmatism, rather than iconoclasm. "The Quran is very clear on the subject," he says. "It is not compulsory for women to pray in the mosque. But if they wish to, they must be allowed to do so."

And so the Imam of Palayam Masjid set a precedent of permitting woman to pray each night at the mosque during Ramzan. The Friday afternoon congregational prayer is also open to them. What about the prayer five times a day? "When the mosque expands its capacity, that too will be introduced," Ahmed Kutty says emphatically.

Space constrains as much as conservative sentiment appear to have delayed the entry of women in Palayam Masjid. The repercussions were predictable. A vilification campaign was unleashed against the Imam -- hostile clerics grouped together under the Imams Council issuing a fatwa and organising protest marches, youth gangs barged into the Palayam Imam's office and showered abuses on him. Telephone threats kept him awake at night.

Ahmed Kutty invokes the ideological integrity of his crusade. This is his only protection. "If women are allowed to pray at Mecca and Medina, why can't they pray at Palayam?" he asks. He has issued a public challenge to his detractors: Come up with textual proof of his having violated the Quran or the Prophet's teaching, and he would rescind the controversial order.

The Imam seized the moral high ground. A chorus of support quickly built up among women and liberal sections of the community. Notes Fatima Musliar, a professor of English, "Religion has been distorted to suit the convenience of the priests, to keep them in power. People depend on theme to interpret the Quran. The priests have used this leverage to keep women out."

Islam does not recognise the priestly class; the worshippers do not require the services of a middleman. Yet over the years an Islamic clergy has left the Muslim laity stranded in ignorance and superstition. This has given rise to such un-Islamic practices as tomb worship -- dargahs exert a spell on the Muslim psyche and are a source of remuneration for the clergy.

The Imam of Palayam is quick to acknowledge this. "Dargahs are centres of exploitation. Worshippers are charged at every step. Women are welcomed with open arms there by the same men who keep them out of the mosques."

The clergy perpetuates its relevance by mystifying the Quran. The sermons are delivered in Arabic and thus remain outside the reach of the average Muslim. To interpret it, he must turn to the cleric. The ploy is obvious: monopolise the Quran and manipulate the mind.

Says Dr Karim, former vice-chancellor and Left Democratic Front contestant against A K Antony in the Tiruangadi by-poll: "My father was advised by the local ulema not to send my brother and me to school because it was haram. The clerics have a sinister hold on the people and instill 'backward' ideas in them... The Quran is not a complex philosophy. There are no confusing speculations. It is simple, down to earth, practical. Anyone can read and understand the Quran."

Provided, of course, the Quranic sermons are translated into Malayalam. It can then subvert clerical authority and increase awareness among the people. This is precisely why Ahmed Kutty delivers his sermons in Malyalam.

But practices at the Palayam Masjid are not the norm elsewhere. In thousands of mosques across the southern districts, the suzerainty of the ulema is unquestioned. People have implicit faith in their wisdom and counsel. The khutba -- the sermon before the prayer on Friday -- is the forum where the clerics hold sway. The more enlightened among them use it constructively -- a kind of pep talk on issues critical to the community. However, it can turn into the devil's playground for the unscrupulous and the manipulative, for the obscurantist and the charlatan.

These are the entrenched forces that conspire to keep women on the periphery of the Islamic ethos. Says Ramala Lateef, president of the Muslim Women's Association: "Even educated Muslims are inclined to suppress women. They don't like women taking up jobs or developing their skills. They use the Quran to silence, control and enslave women."

Stepping across the threshold of the Palayam Masjid is doubtless a brave first step for Muslim women in south Kerala. But the victory is more symbolic than real. Women have access to the mosque only during Ramzan -- their presence at the Friday prayers is not a reality. "We will have to step up the pressure," says Nafeesath Beevi, a firebrand politician and human rights activist who sits on the States Women's Commission. "After all, our first memorandum for mosque entry was submitted to the Imam 15 years ago. It was approved only last month."

But there are 3,000 mosques in Thiruvanthapuram district alone that keep out women. The Palayam Imam anticipates a movement that will compel these mosques to jettison their gender bias and open their doors to women. But that may take a while. Social factors stand in the way. The beneficiaries of the Palayam initiative are essentially upper-class Muslim women, the cream of Travancore society, who are not exposed to the exploitation of women at the lower end of the social scale, who do not have to contend with recalcitrant husbands.

To the less privileged Muslim woman from a rural jamaat the developments at Palayam Masjid occur at a rarefied remove. Her world view is dictated by man. Her reality is harsher, her option fewer. For her the gains at Palayam are purely notional.

The story in Malabar is different. Despite the generalised social and economic backwardness of the region, Muslim women enjoy greater religious freedom. They have been praying in mosques for years. The paradox can be explained. To begin with, historically Malabar has been exposed to Arab influences in the wake of trade and commerce. The social practices of Malabar Muslims also gave women greater leverage within family and society.

On the other hand, the social atmosphere for Travancore Muslims was claustrophobic. After the integration of the separate regions into a unified state, Muslims in the southern districts found themselves surrounded by the majority community, spawning an inevitable threat perception and ghetto mentality. It was just the right medium for the insular and conservative attitude to flourish. And it is this baggage from the past that Muslim women in Travancore have to carry as they jostle for a place in the Friday congregation.

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