Women enter Mumbai's Haji Ali Dargah mosque after ban lifted

Trustees put the ban in place in 2011, arguing that allowing women near the tomb of a revered saint was a ‘grievous sin’ in Islam

Dozens of women entered the inner sanctum of a historic mosque inIndiaon Tuesday after winning a bitter legal battle to overturn a ban on female worshippers. The Haji Ali Dargah trust agreed last month to lift the ban on women entering the mausoleum on an islet off the coast of Mumbai after a group of female campaigners launched a legal case.

The trustees put the ban in place in 2011, arguing that allowing women near the tomb of a revered saint was a “grievous sin” inIslam.

Campaigner Noorjehan Niaz called it a victory for women’s rights and said it would set a strong precedent for similar cases. “We are very happy the ban against women’s entry into the shrine was lifted,” she said. “Credit must be given where due, and the trustees ensured our visit to the inner sanctum of the mosque was peaceful … We even hadchai[tea] with them after the visit.”

Haji Ali Dargah is one of Mumbai’s most recognisable landmarks and receives tens of thousands of Muslims, Hindus and tourists every week. The mosque is accessible via a causeway at low tide. It was built in memory of a wealthy 15th-century Muslim merchant who gave up his worldly possessions and went on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Women in India have been intensifying their campaigns to be allowed to enter a string of Hindu temples and other religious sites. Hundreds of women staged a protest march to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra state in January, leading the high court in Mumbai to strike down a ban against women entering a shrine there.

About 80% of India’s 1.2 billion people are Hindus, but the country is also home to large numbers of Muslims, Christians and Buddhists.

(THE GUARDIAN)