Support Statement for Women in Tamil Nadu

December 19, 2003

We the members of the Muslim Reform Movement Organization are deeply distressed to learn about discrimination against women in mosques in Tamil Nadu from the report in the Hindustan Times of December 17 that women are not allowed to enter mosques and to represent themselves in hearings of family disputes is an unacceptable state of affairs. It is also totally against the teachings of Islam as practiced by Prophet Muhammad. We wish to express our strong support for the Muslim women in Parambur village who have taken the initiative to confront this system of oppression and to establish a mosque of their own. All people, men, women and children have an equal to right to use mosques. Non-Muslims should also be welcome visitors to mosques.

Although we feel strongly for the difficulties faced by our Muslim sisters in Tamil Nadu and we support their decision to make a separate mosque we hope that their eventual goal is not to perpetuate segregation between men and women but to end discrimination and oppression.

We Muslims consider Prophet Muhammad as our role model. It is important to recall that women and men both worshipped in the mosque of the Prophet and he did not try to segregate them by building a partition or a screen. More importantly, the Prophet took active steps to elevate the status of women in society. It is ironic that many Muslim scholars of today are not willing to give women rights which the Prophet had given them fourteen hundred years ago. Instead of moving forward with time these misguided people have taken the Muslim community further back. It is a good sign that more and more Muslims are awakening to the social catastrophe created by their misrepresentation of Islam. We hope that there will be more acts to challenge the power of the stagnant religious establishment in India similar to the women who have decided to build their own mosque.

STATEMENT BY THE MUSLIM REFORM MOVEMENT ORGANIZATION

ISSUED ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2002

On the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the United States we, the members of the Muslim Reform Movement Organization (MRMO) share in the profound grief felt by the whole nation, and we stand together especially with the families who lost loved ones one year ago. The events of September 11, 2002 mark a dark chapter in the history of modern world. They brought into focus the ugly reality that tools of large-scale destruction are now available to any person or group determined enough for obtaining and using them.

While the precious lives lost cannot be recovered, the resilience with which our government and people have responded to this tragedy is a salute to the American spirit. In keeping with the traditions of this country we must all work together to build a better world out of what has happened, to create good out of bad and replace sorrow with hope.

One positive lesson that has already been learned from these tragic events is that our government, and many governments around the world have taken vigorous steps, to drastically limit the ability of individuals or groups to carry out terrorist activities, and this is making all of us safer than before.

Another lesson to be learned from this tragic episode is the realization that the world is truly a village now, and no country can feel secure and safe from troubles in other parts of the world. The only way to be truly safe in the long term is to proactively help solve the problems of the people of the world. These problems need to be addressed at both the material and the spiritual levels.

Today, thanks to the rapid progress in science and technology we have the resources to rapidly raise the living standards of all the people of the world, and the governments of the world must unite in making this a high priority. Bringing opportunities for universal education, better health and improved standards of living in all sections of the globe is in everyone’s interest. Justice, progress and prosperity for all should no longer be considered a utopia, but an attainable reality through which a global and lasting peace will be established.

On a spiritual level, we call upon religious leaders of all denominations to abandon sectarianism, and to teach love, brotherhood and tolerance for all people. These are the core values of all major religions of the world. Love of God is meaningless without love of His creatures. We must emphasize the kinship of human race, the worth of each human life and the right of every individual to freedom in the pursuit of fulfillment and happiness.

It is well recognized by all responsible leaders that the fact that the perpetrators of the attacks of September 11 were Muslims, should not be used to besmirch the religion of Islam. We laud the United States government for actively maintaining religious freedom and tolerance in this country. We call upon fellow Americans to oppose all types of stereotyping of Muslims in the media and in society. Any effort that casts doubts on the loyalty of Muslim citizens of this country weakens and divides us.

We also call scholars and leaders within the Muslim community to seriously re-examine the interpretations of the Quran and Sunnah that have been widely preached all around the world and that directly or indirectly encourage people to be intolerant towards other faiths, or encourage them to solve personal, social and political problems by violent means.

An Official Statement From “The Muslim Reform Movement Organization.”

We are appalled by the sentence of stoning by death given by the shariah court in Nigeria to Amina Lawal.

It should be pointed out that from the traditional Muslim legal perspective there are internal contradictions on this topic in the shariah. It is well known that the Quran does not give such a sentence. However, according to the Hadith, Prophet Muhammad did prescribe this punishment on occasions. But the Prophet also made it clear that injunctions of the Quran take precedence over his words and actions. However, the practice did continue in Muslim societies, until the advent of European colonial rule. Now, unfortunately, religious revivalism is making ulema in many Muslim countries to re-invoke this gruesome custom. The least a shariah court of today can do to promote humanitarian principles is to acknowledge the disagreement between the Quran and Hadith on this issue, and to err on the side of compassion.

In a broader perspective, it is important to recall that stoning to death was the Law of Moses, and Jewish scholars have modified the law to keep pace with human progress. We invite Muslim legal scholars to think along these lines.

There is overwhelming evidence that the practice of bodily punishments of any kind generates fear and cruelty in the whole society, and therefore such punishments do much more harm than good. They should be discontinued.

The most effective method of creating a moral society is through education in an atmosphere of tolerance. Under no circumstances should we forget that the principal intent of the Islamic shariah is to create a fair and compassionate society.

Muslim Reform Movement Organization