As women activists intensify their protests seeking entry into Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra, Muslim women groups have now staged a protest demanding entry into Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai. According to Zeenat Shaukat Ali, a professor of Islamic studies and one of the protesters, it was ‘male patriarchy’, not religion, which was imposing restrictions on women.
“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, why should male patriarchy dominate?” she said.
Recent agitations at popular shrines show that women activists across religious barriers are becoming cautious of discriminatory restrictions imposed on them by patriarchal elements that have held sway over religions in the past.
The root of the problem is that in Indian society, menstruation is perceived as unclean. One of the greatest confusions most women face is in the ambivalent approach of mainstream religions practiced in South Asia. Among Hindus, for instance, women are regarded as embodiments of Shakti (the feminine principle), but are also treated as impure to participate in religious ceremonies. In some cases, they are not allowed to interact with their own family during menstruation. According to Manusmriti, until a woman’s menstruation has ceased to flow, her body is impure.
In Islam too, a woman is not allowed to offer prayer, or perform other religious activities such as fasting or reading namaz. This is in accordance with the law of the uncleanliness of any blood. Most Indian mosques don’t allow women to pray in their premises.
In Judaism, a menstruating woman is considered ritually unclean—“anyone who touches her will be unclean”. In Christianity, a section of leaders continue to defend the exclusion of women from ministry based on a notion of uncleanliness despite protests that such laws should be discarded as part of the Old Covenant. The liberals point out that Jesus allowed himself to be touched by a hemorrhaging woman and cured her.
In most Christian churches today, menstruating women are allowed to attend church. They, however, are not allowed to receive communion in some more conservative Orthodox churches.
This shows that irrespective of following different dogma, gender discrimination is the same among most patriarchal religions. Confrontation and outrage undoubtedly play a crucial role in the battle against bias by turning society’s focus to a specific issue. The debates generated, however, have merely raised storms in teacups. A few TV discussions and articles later, we revert to square one. The momentum is easily lost when attempts to invade a shrine are not backed by a sustained, de-politicised effort that seeks to end patriarchal social construct.
The larger question is whether this sudden activism is a genuine effort to break traditions, or is it fuelled by a narrow motive to pile political pressure on a government that has been accused of indulging in cultural majoritarianism?
While the recent protests have grabbed media attention, they are doomed to fail in challenging the patriarchal hegemony over religion and ending stigmas against women. While fighting sexism in religious practices, it is important to remember that a sustained campaign, not a few stunts, is the only effective tool in the long run.
Dr.seemajaved@gmail.com
Javed is an independent journalist and media consultant