The petitioners have claimed that the norm at the Haji Ali Dargah contravenes the Hadiths which say that women are not prohibited from visiting tombs.
The Bombay High Court today asked Maharashtra government to give its opinion on a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the sanctum sanctorum of the historic Dargah.
As the issue is sensitive, a bench headed by Justice VM Kanade asked Advocate General Srihari Aney to submit arguments on behalf of the state on February 9 stating whether women should be allowed into the sanctum sanctorum of the shrine.
The Supreme Court is seized of a matter about entry of women in
Sabarimala temple of Kerala.This is also for the first time that the state has been asked to give its views on women's entry into a shrine.
Today, when the PIL came up for hearing, the bench was told that the Advocate General was on his legs before another bench in some other matter. Hence, the PIL on Haji Ali Dargah was posted for arguments on February 9 when the Advocate General has been asked to argue on behalf of the State.
The court had indicated last month that it would wait for the Supreme Court's ruling on entry of women in Sabarimala temple in Kerala before deciding on the plea in the
case of Haji Ali Dargah. The judges had said both the matters were similar involving the entry of women in the religious shrines and hence they would like to see what view would the Supreme Court take on the issue before they give a ruling on the interim relief sought by the petitioner in the Bombay High Court.
The PIL in Bombay High Court has challenged the decision of Haji Ali Trust to ban the entry of women in the
sanctum sanctorum of the Dargah. The petition had sought interim relief by way of allowing women into the sanctum sanctorum at the Dargah until the matter is
finally decided by the court.The trustees of Haji Ali Dargah had told the court earlier that entry of women in close proximity to the grave of a male Muslim saint is considered a grievous sin in Islam.
The petitioners, however, claimed that gender justice is inherent in the Quran and the norm at the Dargah contravenes the Hadiths which say that women are not prohibited from visiting tombs.
The restriction emanates from "a very conservative and extremist Salafi ideology" and in future "there may be an order banning the entry of women in the
Dargah complex and banning the non-Muslims wholly," the petition argued.
Raju Moray, the petitioners' lawyer, contended that at other Dargahs or shrines women are not banned. Women can enter the sanctum sanctorum at the historic Makhdoom Shah Dargah in suburban Mahim, he noted.