The Hindu : Front Page : "Islam gives many rights to women"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 28, 2006

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"Islam gives many rights to women"

Kalpana Sharma

Women's group plans roaming school

MUMBAI: The Quran does not give permission to kill innocent people, said Aalima Nowhera Shaikh, president of the newly launched Muslim women's organisation, At-Tawheed International Dawah Centre for Women.

Speaking to The Hindu before addressing over 400 Muslim women who had travelled from distant suburbs to listen to her, this religious teacher from Tirupati said, "If there are a few bad people, you can't call all people of that community terrorists."

Aalima Nowhera is convinced that Muslim women will realise how much their religion offers them by way of rights if they can first understand what is written in the Quran. She says that most women barely know the Quran and what they are taught is in Arabic. As a result, they are not aware of their rights and cannot question the interpretation of the Quran by male clerics. "I want a day to come when women can speak up for their rights", she says.

To this end, the Aalima, who received her training in religion in Chennai but now runs the Jamia Niswa al Alifiya Women's Arabic College in Tirupati, says educating women is essential. Originally from Kallur in Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, she says, "In our district, they don't send girls to school. So we set up a madrassa with a regular school curriculum. We want to give women the courage to fight."

The Dawah Centre is the first all-women Muslim organisation that is not affiliated to any other existing organisation. Men cannot be members. Even at the meeting in Mumbai, men were not permitted to attend although they were allowed to listen in from an adjoining room. "Women think they are suffering because they are women. They don't realise that Islam gives us so many rights."

The organisation has chapters in Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and in Ahmedabad. It aims to teach women not just the Quran but also skills so that they can stand on their own feet when they are either abandoned by their husbands or in distress. It also helps them to use the legal system. "Women cannot go and tell men what is their problem," she says. The organisation has given women a chance to come forward and talk about their problems, particularly marital problems.

"Islamic terrorism"

Vice-President of the Dawah Centre, Dr. Shehnaz Sheikh feels strongly about the use of the term "Islamic terrorism". Dr. Sheikh, who is a medical doctor and Honorary Principal and founder of an English medium school for Muslim girls in Mumbai, the Al-Mu'minah School, says that according to the Quran, killing one human being is like killing the whole of mankind. "If someone kills hundreds of innocent people, can he really be a follower of Islam?"

Aalima Nowhera and Dr. Sheikh plan to spread their organisation across India. Already 500 women have signed up in Mumbai. Aalima Nowhera says that their plan is to set up a roaming school to teach women the Quran. They will go to women's homes if that is where they want to learn. "Our aim is to train grandmothers, mothers, daughters and granddaughters in the Quran so that our eyes are open", she says.

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