Depiction and reality of women in Islam

'Why girl was invited on stage'

It was the event of the inauguration of the madrassa building in Malappuram District, Kerala. The organizers have facilitated some Muslim students on this occasion. After facilitating some male students, the organizers called the class 10th student on the stage to receive her award. As all previously called male students came alone on the stage, the female student also stepped up alone on the stage to receive her award. As soon as a Muslim cleric watched the female student arriving lonely on the stage, he walked toward the organizer, who called her name and started shouting at him. The Muslim cleric was identified as MT Abdulla Musaliyar, a senior functionary of Samastha Kerala Jem-iyyathul Ulama, a body of Muslim scholars in Kerala. The incident came to light through social media. The video of the incident went viral on social media in which Islamic clerics can be clearly heard shouting and criticizing the organizer for calling the female student on the stage. She took her award in the form of a memento from Panakkad Sayed Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal, a leader of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). It has been recorded what Muslim cleric Musaliyar said to the organizer. He said, "Who invited a Class 10 girl to the stage? If you do this again... Don't call such girls here. Don't you know the rules of Samastha? Were you the one who called her? Ask her parents to come to the stage to collect the award. Don't do such things while we are sitting here."

People criticized cleric Musaliyar 

Members of woman's organizations and some political leaders have criticized the Musaliyar. Many people expressed their anger and disapproval on social media. India is a sovereign and democratic country. Moreover, in 1976, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi added the words 'socialist' and 'secular' in the preamble during a national emergency by the 42nd Amendment Act. But it has been seen that the Muslim clerics have nothing to do with the meaning of these words. Following are some reactions and expressions on social media criticizing Islamic cleric Musaliyar – 

https://twitter.com/avijitsaxena87/status/1525421314252546048

https://twitter.com/AskAnshul/status/1525159396619468801 

https://twitter.com/nosenseor/status/1525179633460649984

https://twitter.com/Mcsiri5/status/1525348197690130432

https://twitter.com/sunil_gupta24/status/1524919198832422913

https://twitter.com/MVattakkattu/status/1524321981113503744

https://twitter.com/ram_kannur/status/1524056069890187265

https://twitter.com/MannkibaatRajiv/status/1524118825922625536

https://twitter.com/gjpereira2003/status/1525151452825817088

https://twitter.com/PhilipKuriakos4/status/1525010551717634049

https://twitter.com/saavy_m/status/1525010360192839680

https://twitter.com/MuzSpeaks/status/1524823804211515392

https://twitter.com/avijitsaxena87/status/1525422344621084672

https://twitter.com/Unnirn/status/1525396883665211392

https://twitter.com/seshanm/status/1525020524136366080

Depiction of Muslim women in Islam

A broad-minded depiction of Muslim women in the Muslim community is observed in graphics and quotes only. One can find several graphics showing how Islam respects, liberates, and empowers women. Some depicted how Islam gave rights to women since its formation. However, there is a huge difference. In reality, women have been discriminated against gender in Islam. She has no equal rights. Following are some such graphics -

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Muslim women empowerment

From such discrimination, Muslim women need to be liberated. In the 21st century, Indian Muslim women got justice - protection from Triple Talaq. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government passed the bill against Triple Talaq on August 1, 2019. The majority of Muslim women have appreciated the Modi Government after the enforcement of the Triple Talaq Bill. These appreciations have also been reflected in voting in General Elections 2019. Muslim women have been criticized for their suspicious voting in the election. One woman was expelled from her house for voting Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). In conversation with media persons, a Muslim woman, namely Ujma, said that her cousin, father-in-law & brother-in-law got a whiff of her political inclination. "When they knew that I voted for BJP, they made my life hell", said Ujma. Such incidences revealed that it is a long fight for Muslim women. However, the Indian Government's policies and implementation of the law resulted in some empowerment of Muslim women in India. Uniform Civil Code will also be enacted soon in Uttarakhand which may empower Muslim women.