Muslim woman is free to enter a mosque to offer Namaz - AIMPLB

The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has stated that a Muslim woman can enter a mosque to offer Namaz (prayers). The AIMPLB has taken this categorical stand in an affidavit filed in response to a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition seeking permission for Muslim women to enter mosques.

In its counter-affidavit, the AIMPLB stated that the practices of religion in places of worship such as mosques are purely private actions regulated by Muttawalis and mosques, and therefore the court or AIMPLB cannot intervene in the management of such religious places. However, the AIMPLB went on to explain the relevant Islamic practices and submitted that Islam does not make it obligatory for Muslim women to pray five times a day or offer Friday Namaz in a congregation, but they are permitted to pray in the mosque. 

The AIMPLB further highlighted that there is no religious text authorizing the free intermingling of genders in any mosque and that separate spaces for men and women are provided during prayer.

It also emphasized that a fatwa is an opinion based on religious texts and doctrines and has no statutory force. The AIMPLB has maintained that delivering a fatwa cannot be restrained by a judicial order, as it would be a violation of an individual's freedom of religious belief.

The issue regarding the entry of women into mosques is expected to be considered by a nine-judge Constitution bench, along with other questions concerning women's rights under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution.