Features

How would a man feel in a female dominant environment? Perhaps uneasy, misplaced, and hesitant. How would women feel in a male dominant environment- perhaps same and also unsure.

The 5-star hotel Oberoi, through their in-house research discovered that even their high profile women customers prefer the first floor and that too a room near to the lift. Further probe revealed that women customers feel insure in the male-dominated environment and hence want accommodation on the first floor near to the lift as they can contact reception and move out quickly if threatened.

The corporate world has realised the different needs of their female employees and has set-up exclusive facilities terms for them. Ironically our educational institutions still have the environment, which makes women feel uncomfortable and insecure.

A visit to any of the higher education institutions reveals how unfriendly the atmosphere is. Female students are exposed to male dominated environment inside and outside the class and are subjected to lewd remarks and lustful stares. Canteens, Gymkhana, Library, and even campus do not have exclusive space for them. If we need to educate our future generation we must give female - friendly environment in the educational institutions.

At the school level, many of the girls go to girls school. But after the 10th, they are suddenly exposed to male dominant environment in the college, which scares most of them. This is one reason why most of them opt out of education.

Amongst the Muslims, there is a hunger for learning among Muslim girls and women.

Scanning the list of the students of the colleges in Mumbai, majority areas as well as Muslim Management Colleges, the trend of Muslim girls enrolling for various professional courses is discernible. Many of the most energetic volunteers in the best education NGOs come from the community. The socio-economic profile of the Muslim middle and deprived class is making it imperative that Muslim parents shed the inhibition towards education and encourage girls to opt for higher education.

No doubt, the shift is encouraging, but two factors make it less productive. First, the confusion about the upcoming profession, suitable for the girls from the conservative families and its scope. The major worry of the parents and the Muslim girls is selection of the profession, as they do not want to be seen as too modern, which impairs their marriage chances.

Secondly, the Muslim intelligentsia has failed to debate the issue of Muslim girls education and the challenges, which they face when circumstances force them to work. Thus, lack of consensus in the family leads to many drop-outs at the 10th,and 12th level.

Ayub Haji Mohammed, a taxi driver wants his two daughters to study and be capable of facing any eventualities of life. “ I do not want my children to suffer the hardship which I am facing. If they are educated, they can improve their standard of living and take care of themselves”. The major problem with the attitude of the community towards the Muslim girls education and employment is that, till today it is considered as the ideology or theology related issue. Socio-economic angle is either overlooked or neglected. Majority of Muslim women in India are poor and illiterate. In urban areas, the Muslim women are either working as domestic workers where their pride and prestige are at risk or on the mercy of poor husbands who himself faces uncertain future and pathetic living standards not fit even for animals to survive. Such are the conditions in which majority of Muslim women are living.

The issue of girl’s education is very complex and in need of a thorough debate within the community. All the talk about launching social reforms within the community does not make sense unless and until concrete measures are taken to make higher education women friendly.

The biggest nuisance girls face in the educational institutions is the lewd remark while arriving and departing from the institution. This can be easily tackled by asking them not to tolerate it but to report the name to the management as most of the institutions now insist display of Identity cards.

There are drop-outs because many a times there are not enough girls in the class for them to form a group, which is so essential to make them feel secure in the male dominant environment. For this, Management must club the girls in the single division or parents must do enough spade work while taking admission ensuring that enough girls are there in the division so that they can form a group. Providing privacy in the canteen, library, and gymkhana and inside the campus for them to gather and discuss their problem will make their life more easy and environment conducive for learning.

The Islamic Fiqh Academy, a body of leading Islamic theologians, which held its 14th Fiqhi seminar at Hyderabad has ruled that the perfumes, which use non-intoxicating alcohol, are not unclean, hence could be used.

The Academy which held the session in June this year, went into the chemical composition of alcohol and said only one specific type of alcohol is intoxicating while others that do not intoxicate, could be used in drugs. In a note circulated by the Academy, it said, 'Ethyl alcohol is intoxicating and does not lose its characteristics inspite of being mixed in the drug. However, as far as the treatment and cure are concerned, the Shariah does mention some provisions, by which the consumption of alcohol-containing drugs is permissible, in case no other alternative is available.'

The Academy also ruled that there is room for use of gelatin, which is prepared after chemical processing of collagen found in the skin and bones of animals as it loses all the properties and characteristics of the parent substance from which it is extracted.


However, there was some difference of opinion between jurists on its use and one of the distinguished jurist, e.g., Maulana Badrul Hasan Qasimi opined that gelatin obtained from the impermissible animals be avoided.


The body of ulema called upon the Muslim businessmen to prepare gelatin only from the permissible animals and their permissible parts, lest there be any doubt about the lawfulness of the products prepared therefrom.

The body urged the Muslims not to maintain any discrimination against the non-Muslim beneficiaries from service institutions such as hospitals and show equal sympathy and care for fellow countrymen while carrying out relief, rehabilitation and rescue operations during natural calamities. However, it said care should be taken that zakat amount is spent on deserving Muslims only.

It urged Muslims not to sing Vande Matram, a song which has connotations of shirk (polytheism). It said Muslims should not pursue the unnecessary concepts such as ‘unity or similarity of religions, an un-Islamic and unrealistic concept. It exhorted formation of organisations with association of like-minded non-Muslim for securing, peace, security and justice and ensuring fairness in the society.

Nearly 200 ulema, theologians, jurists (muftis) deliberated several issues for three days from June 20 at Darus Salam. They included Dr. Khalid Mazkoor, Dr. Abdul Ghaffar Shareef and Maulana Badrul Hasan Qasimi from Kuwait, Dr. Qahtaani from Saudi Arabia and Maulana Aarifi from Zahidan (Iran).