Thursday, July 30, 2009

India: Female Muftis

From Islam Online:
One of India's oldest and most conservative Islamic schools is opening its doors to train Muslim women to become muftis or jurists, a move hailed as a bold initiative for tracing Islam’s history in empowering women.

"On completion of fazeelat, these girls would be eligible for a one-year course of iftah," Mohammad Haroon, registrar of Nadwa-tul-Ulema academy, told The Calcutta Telegraph on Thursday, July 16.

Some 12 girls have already enrolled in fazeelat, a pre-requisite course girls have to complete before taking another one-year iftah course.

The prominent Muslim academy at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, is allocating separate buildings for the girl students inside its male-dominated institute.

According to Shari`ah, a woman is permitted to assume the highest levels of scientific and scholarship posts.

The history of Islam witnessed many women working as muftis and narrators of hadith.

Some women had special circles where they used to teach Islamic knowledge to men and women.

In 2006, Syria appointed first two mufti women to work in Damascus and Aleppo.

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