"19th Century Views": Keralam Chief Minister Rejects Grand Mufti's Remarks On Women

Chief Minister VD Satheesan has rejected Grand Mufti Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar's position that women should remain inside their homes, saying neither his government nor his party would stand by it.

"No, we do not agree at all with his statement that if women enter the public sphere it will cause great ruin, and that the Quran says women should remain submissive and stay inside their homes. We cannot agree with that stance in any manner. Not in any way," the Chief Minister said.

He called the position an anachronism. "Something that used to be said back in the 19th century, is being stated in the 21st century. Women are not meant to live submissively inside homes. Our stance is a progressive one, that women should participate in all aspects of mainstream life. Make no mistake about it."

Satheesan went further, arguing that the cleric's reading was a misinterpretation of Islam rather than a statement of it.

"It is a misinterpretation of Islam itself," he said, citing the Prophet's first wife Khadijah as a major businesswoman, Aisha's role at the Battle of the Camel, and Queen Bilqis.

"A woman who ran a business, a woman who was a commander-in-chief, a woman who was a queen. All of this exists in Islamic history."

He also invoked an account from the court of Caliph Umar. "History records that when a decision was taken in Caliph Umar's court to reduce the Mehr (a mandatory gift given by a groom to his bride), it was a woman who questioned it. When everyone opposed her, Caliph Umar, who is globally renowned as a most just ruler, said that what the woman stated was correct. That means there were women present even in royal courts."

"Neither this government nor our party will stand with any of that," he said.

What Kanthapuram Said

Speaking at a Hubbul Rasool conference in Kochi on Sunday, Kanthapuram said bringing women into the public sphere would lead to "great destruction" and that Islam prescribed purdah to prevent it.

To make the argument he used the example of a gold necklace in an Ernakulam jewellery shop, brought out from a cupboard, then a box, then its wrapping, and contrasted it with stone grinders in the shop next door that sit on the roadside while people step over them. If a necklace were left on the road, he said, everyone passing would touch it until its beauty was destroyed.

Citing a Quranic verse, he said: "Women should remain confined within their homes. They should not enter the public sphere. The Holy Quran says so."

He said Samastha scholars had taught this for 100 years and that it had helped women preserve their dignity, arguing that the restriction was a form of respect. He also pushed back at critics questioning his standing to speak. "We have studied the religion. Therefore, it is our duty to say this. We will say it, and we will continue to say it. Nobody can stop it."

The Circular That Started It

The speech followed a circular issued last week by Samastha Kerala Jam-iyyathul Ulama president E Sulaiman Musliyar and general secretary Kanthapuram, directing local committees, mosques and madrasas to ensure Islamic celebrations stayed within religious limits.
It said bringing young women among unrelated men on public roads and stages was not appropriate for believers. The circular also objected to non-Islamic customs being mixed into celebrations. It came amid a rise in Milad-e-Sharif programmes in public spaces by youth clubs rather than mosque committees.

BJP Targets Rahul Gandhi

Hitting out at the cleric, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said girls in Kerala would not be pushed into medieval seclusion by clerical diktat, and accused both the Congress and CPI(M) of appeasement.

Chandrasekhar also called out the hypocrisy of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi for his silence on the matter. "Rahul Gandhi, when he talks about smashing patriarchy, does not actually believe in it. Otherwise he would have condemned the statements given by Muslim cleric Kanthapuram," the BJP state president stated.

Samastha functionaries defended the circular as an instruction meant for followers. Sunni Yuvajana Sangam leader Musthafa Mundupara said scholars would continue to remind the community of religious discipline. Nasar Faizy Koodathayi said those who accept Kanthapuram may follow him and those who do not may reject him.

The Indian Union Muslim League, a partner in Satheesan's cabinet, declined to take a position. State general secretary PMA Salam said the party would neither reject nor justify the scholars' view, since religious organisations have their opinions and the League has its own political stand.

The row has unfolded days after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi attacked the Manusmriti at a party event in Pune on August 22, telling an audience of women students that the mindset of suppressing women comes from Manusmriti and urging them to "smash the patriarchy".