Mumbai\'s Historic Haji Ali Bans Women From Most Sacred Area

Haji Ali Dargah TrustPeople walking up to the Haji Ali mosque in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in this undated photo.

An iconic image of Mumbai â€" the Haji Ali mausoleum, 500 yards off the shoreline in the glittering Arabian sea â€" attracted controversy Tuesday after a Muslim women's group said women have been banned from entering the inner tomb.

Barring women from the centuries-old tomb is against the spirit of Islam and against rights enshrined in the Indian constitution, said the group, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan.

“It's hurting us not just as women but as citizens of this country,” the group's founder, Noorjehan Safia Nia z, an activist who focuses on Muslim law and women's rights, said in a telephone interview.

During a visit to the mausoleum in March 2011, her group, which promotes the development of Muslim women, was able to pray inside the area of the tomb, where the saint Pir Haji Ali Shah Bukhari is buried. Pilgrims typically enter the room, where the saint is buried in the center, to touch the grave and offer prayers and flowers.

When the women's group came in July, Ms. Niaz said members were denied access to the inner area. “What happened in one year? Who took this decision?” Ms. Niaz said.

Ms. Niaz kicked off a media tour on the topic on Tuesday, after learning other mausoleums in Mumbai had also banned women. Her tour quickly sparked a debate in India about what areas of Muslim religious sites women are, or should be, allowed to visit.

A trustee at the Haji Ali dargah, or tomb, said there have been no recent changes to rules about women's access to the tomb. “They can see. They can pray,” said Abdul Sattar Merchant, chairman and managing trustee of the mausoleum. Asked whether women were allowed to enter the room where the saint is buried, called the astana, he said, “What has been happening is continuing.”

Other officials associated with the mausoleum confirmed Tuesday that there was a ban.

“If Islamic scholars have issued a fatwa, in accordance with the Islamic law of Sharia, and have demanded that women not be allowed in dargahs, we have only made a correction,” the news channel NDTV quoted a mausoleum trustee, Rizwan Merchant, as saying. “All that we are requesting to our sisters is not to enter inside the dargah.”

Religious scholars said there is nothing in the Koran, the Muslim holy book, or the Islamic law known as Sharia that bans women from mosques or mausoleums, or from inner tombs, like the one at Haji Ali.

“There's no such command in the Kora n. There's no such principle in Sharia,” said Asghar Ali Engineer, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies in Mumbai. “This is mere conservatism and upholding patriarchal values.”

Nonetheless, women, except those in the Bora Muslim community, aren't allowed access to most mosques and many mausoleums in India, although those considered “historical monuments,” like the Taj Mahal or the Jama Masjid, permit women.

Mr. Engineer attributed the lack of access for women in India, and across other areas in South Asia like Pakistan, to a feudal culture. Women in countries outside the subcontinent with large Muslim populations don't face the same limitation, he said.

“Even today, in Arab countries, women can enter mosques and pray,” he noted.

At Haji Ali, a thread of cut rock connects the tomb and mosque to the Mumbai shore. It has been a scenic draw for locals and pilgrims for decades.

Mr. Merchant, the managing trustee there, said that there were tens of thousands of men and women pouring into the mausoleum every day, although women are a fraction of the number of men attending.

“How can we allow women to mix with men?” Mr. Merchant said. He also said that women sometimes didn't wear burqas, a Muslim veil for women, inside the tomb.

Others worry that the new ban inside the tomb would spread to other mausoleums.

“If it can happen at Haji Ali, it can happen in smaller dargahs also,” said Ms. Niaz. She said that her group has visited about 20 mausoleums in Mumbai and found that seven didn't allow women inside, although she isn't sure how many of those always had a policy of banning women.

She said she plans to meet government officials in the coming weeks. “We'll make this an issue of debate and discussion,” Ms. Niaz said.