'Election tickets to Muslim women against Islam, weaken religion, are there no men left?': Ahmedabad's Shahi Imam on eve of Gujarat polls

Ahmedabad, Dec 5: After AIDUF chief Badruddin Ajmal made disgusting comments against women and Hindus, now the Shahi Imam of Ahmedabad's Jama Masjid, Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, erupted a fresh controversy saying allotting tickets to women in elections is a rebellion against Islam and weakens the religion and are there no men left.

 

 

This came as he was talking to reporters here on the eve of the second and final phase of polling for the Gujarat Assembly elections. He said women are not allowed to offer Namaz (prayer performed by Muslims) because they have a certain position in Islam.

"If you talk about Islam...Do you see even a single woman offering Namaz? Namaz has great importance in Islam. Had it been justified in Islam for women to come before people, they (women) would not have been stopped (from entering) the mosque.

"Women are stopped from visiting mosques because they have a certain status in Islam. Whoever (whichever party) gives tickets to (Muslim) women rebels against Islam. Don’t you have men (candidates) that you are bringing in women? This will weaken our religion," the Shahi Imam said.

A few days ago, Ajmal had earlier said that Hindus, like Muslims, should get their children married at a young age."Muslim men marry at the age of 20-22 while Muslim women marry at 18, as stipulated by the government. However, (Hindus) have one two or three illegal wives before marriage. They don't give birth to babies in order to save costs," the AIUDF chief said.

Ajmal said, "They (Hindus) should also follow the Muslims in getting their children married at a young age. Get the boys married at 20-22 and the girls married at 18-20 years and then see how many children are born."

He later issued an apology, saying, "I had no intentions of hurting the sentiments of any community. I deeply regret my statement. Being a senior leader, I should not have made such comments. I apologise to everyone hurt by my remarks. I am ashamed of the statements. All I want is for the government to do justice to the minorities and give them education and employment."