A Masjid for women in Shillong
‘Mana ki is chaman ko gulzar na kar sake hum,
Kuch khar kam kiye hai gujre jahan se hum….
( I do agree that I cannot convert this place as paradise, but I have removed some thorns wherever I pass through…)
Mr. Saidullah Nongrum, on September 21, 2008
STEREOTYPING is usually a necessary for systemic reinforcement of discrimination against women, and this process is strong when the society and culture see women as the carrier of their "identities". That is probably the reason that muslim women are denied free mobility for decades across the world. I few nations that provided free mobility but restricted such action only under the precondition to be ‘invisible’ eg system of purdah.
North Esatern states (NES hereafter) in
Women’s access to public religious places like masjids is restricted by the muslim society in NES. Women offering prayer five times a day in mosques is a taboo in almost all societies in
Justifying women’s access to the masjid, Nongrum said, ‘I have seen muslim women offering prayers with great difficulty in absence of space and privacy specially while at work or when she is out of the home. Many times I offered my office room to use for offering prayers. If our women ca go to market which is considered to be the worst place for a muslim women under the Sharia, we the menfolk are not objecting to it then why not women going to a masjid and offer prayer there? Why the fanatics are objecting to it? ‘. Mr. Nongrum strongly believes that the interpretation of Islamic laws is not free from the patriarchal notion. He said ‘I don’t believe in the interpretation of the fanatics. Purdah means the inner shyness of women. If the shyness it retained she can go anywhere. There’s nothing forbidden in going to a place and offer prayer’ He said that about 40-50 women attends prayer everyday and the number is increasing day by day. Nongrum lamented that fenetics are forbidding women to come and pray in the masjid and he challenged the fenetics and said ‘they should come here and show me the scripts which prohibits women to go to a masjid. If men and women can pray together during Haz, why not in Shillong masjid?
Women, who participated in the prayer meeting on the 29th August, 2008 expressed great satisfaction and delight over the establishment of the masjid. Syeda Mushfiqua Haque and her daughter in law said ‘ when we went for the prayer, we felt that we have achieved something and it gave us satisfaction of being empowered’.
The establishment of the women’s masjid in Shillong is the first ever masjid made exclusively for women. This is a step to forward gender equality and to stop stereotyping. If such initiatives are taken in every field and widened space for women muslim women in this region too can contribute to the society and bring prosperity.
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