Skip to main content

Muslim Women Can Now Travel For Haj Without Male Guardian


NEW DELHI: Terming the policy of allowing Muslim women to perform Haj only in the company of a male guardian as “injustice”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said his government has removed the restriction following which hundreds of women have applied to travel alone for the pilgrimage.
According to the Ministry of Minority Affairs, now Muslim women aged above 45 will be allowed to go for the pilgrimage without ‘mahram’ in a group of at least four.
In his monthly radio address ‘Mann ki baat’, the prime minister said removal of the restriction of having a male guardian or ‘mahram’ may appear as a “small thing”, but such issues “have a far reaching impact on our image as a society”.
He said when he first heard of the restriction, he was surprised as to who wold have drafted such a rule. “Why this discrimination? And when I went into the depth of the matter I was surprised to find that even after 70 years of our independence, we were the ones who had imposed these restrictions. For decades, injustice was being rendered to Muslim women but there was no discussion on it,” he said in his broadcast.
He pointed out that such a restriction is not prevalent in many Islamic countries.
“I am happy to note that this time about 1300 Muslim women have applied to perform Haj without ‘mahram’ and women from different parts of the country from Kerala to north India, have expressed their wish to go for the Haj pilgrimage,” he said.
He said he has suggested to the Ministry of Minority Affairs that they should ensure that all women who have applied to travel alone be allowed to perform Haj.
“Usually there is a lottery system for selection of Haj pilgrims but I would like that single women pilgrims should be excluded from this lottery system and they should be given a chance as a special category,” he said.
He said it is his firm belief that the journey of India’s progress has been possible due to women-power and on the basis of their talent…it should be our constant endeavour that our women also get equal rights and equal opportunities…,” he said.
While referring to Muslim women and their rights, the prime minister did not mention about the bill passed by Lok Sabha last week which bans the practice of instant triple talaq.
He, however, had referred to the issue of instant triple talaq or ‘talaq-e-biddat’ while inaugurating the 85th Sivagiri Pilgrimage Celebrations at Sivagiri Mutt in Kerala via video conference this morning.
Speaking about Christmas, Prime Minister Modi said Lord Jesus Christ taught us about the spirit of service or ‘sewa bhaav’. “Be it any religion, caste or creed, tradition or colour in this world; the spirit of service is an invaluable hallmark of the highest human values,” he said.
He also recalled the life of Guru Gobind Singh which was full of instances of courage and sacrifice.
On the 350th anniversary of the Sikh guru, he said Guru Gobind Singh preached the virtues of sublime human values and at the same time, practiced them in his own life in letter and spirit.
PTI


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why do Dogs start Barking (Howling) at the time of Azan ?

Q uestions: Why do dogs cry at the time of Fajr Azan? This is an incident that I’ve noticed very often. A nswer: Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds; and may His blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad and upon all his Family and Companions. There are many wonders of Allah in His Creation. Dogs are among His Creatures. It is confirmed in a Hadith that dogs see what human beings cannot see. Abu Dawud reported in his Sunan that Jabir Ibn Abdullah narrated that the Prophet (Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam) said:” If you hear the barking of dogs and the braying of donkeys by night, seek refuge in Allah, as they see what you cannot see”. Albani and others classified this Hadith as authentic. In Sahih Al Jamie’, following the above Hadith is stated: ..’And reduce going out when it is quiet( when everybody is indoors at night time) as Allah diffuses by night what He wishes among His Creation, and lock your doors and mention the Name of Allah on them as ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fake diamond worth Rs.3500 sold for Rs. 1.2cr in Hyderabad

City Police Hyderabad police have arrested two men for allegedly duping a businessman of Rs 1.20 crore by selling him a fake diamond. Mohd Ather Siddique (52) and Mohd Salam Khan (39), who are in the pearls and gems business, were arrested from Abids area based on a complaint filed by the businessman, city police commissioner V V Srinivas Rao said today. Siddique and Khan allegedly offered him a “25-carat diamond piece”, according to the complainant. “Believing them, the complainant purchased the diamond paying them Rs 1.20 crore on January 18. When he got it tested, it was found to be fake,” Rao said. The cheap material resembling the diamond was used for making buttons, he said. As per the investigation, Siddique and Khan had suffered losses in their business and needed money, so they hatched the plan to pass off a fake diamond as a real one. They purchased a fake diamond for Rs 3,500 from the Sunday market at Charminar and sold it to the complainant. Police also recovered...
Post a Comment
Read more

ISIS (Islamic State) claimed suicide attack kills 41 in Kabul

A fghanistan :Suicide bombers stormed a Shia cultural centre and news agency in the Afghan capital on Thursday, killing more than 40 people and wounding scores, many of them students attending a conference. Islamic State (IS) said in an online statement that it was responsible for the attack, the latest in a series the movement has claimed on Shia targets in Kabul. Waheed Majrooh, a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, said 41 people, including four women and two children, had been killed and 84 wounded, most suffering from burns. The attack occurred during a morning panel discussion on the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of  Afghanistan  at the Tabian Social and Cultural Centre, witnesses said. The floors of the centre, at the basement level, were covered in blood as wailing survivors and relatives picked through the debris, while windows of the news agency, on the second floor, were all shattered. “We were shocked and didn’t feel the explosion at f...
Post a Comment
Read more