Shahi Imam Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui. ANI
The Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Sunday triggered a row by saying that “those who give election tickets to Muslim women are against Islam and are weakening the religion.”
“Are there no men left? If you make your women MLAs and councillors, we won’t be able to defend the hijab,” Shahi Imam Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui said referring to the Karnataka hijab row.
“If we raise the issue of hijab with the government, then it will say that your (Muslim) women are coming to Assembly hall, parliament. If you want to fight (elections) then give tickets to men,” he added.
“If you are talking about Islam, did you see any woman reading namaz. In Islam, reading namaz is most important. If in Islam, women were allowed to come in front of everyone, then they wouldn’t have been stopped from doing so,” he told news agency ANI.
Remarks ahead of Gujarat poll’s final phase
The Shahi Imam’s misogynistic remarks come just a day ahead of the final phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections. 93 seats will go to polls on 5 December with over 2.5 crore voters deciding the fate of 833 candidates.
With inputs from agencies
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