On December 4, Sunday, the Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad sparked controversy by saying that giving election tickets to women is against Islam and doing so weakens the religion. “Those who give election tickets to Muslim women are against Islam, weakening the religion. Are there no men left,” said Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad. He also asked if there is no men left in Islam that women are being given tickets.
The Imam also said that Islam does not allow Muslim women to come out in front of the public, that’s why they are not allowed to enter mosques for namaaz, and therefore they should also be not allowed to enter the legislature.
Talking to ANI, Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui said, ‘you just saw namaaz being offered, did you see any woman? And in Islam namaaz has been given the highest importance. If women coming out in open like this was allowed in Islam, they would not have been barred from the masjid. Why they are barred from mosques? Because there is a place for women in Islam. Therefore who are giving tickets to Muslim women are revolting against Islam’.
The Shahi Imam went on to say that an outrage erupted in Karnataka around a ban on hijabs in government schools, “but if Muslim women become MLAs, councillors etc, then the Hijab cannot be protected. Because in that case, the government will argue that your women are contesting elections, sitting on Municipal boards, speaking on stage, etc. In Islam, Aurat’s voice is also Aurat,” Shahi Imam Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui said. He added that when Muslim women contest elections, they have to address election rallies, visit houses of voters regardless of their religion, and therefore such women can’t maintain their hijab.
Furthermore, he asked if there are no Muslim men left that Muslim women are being made to contest elections. “Had there been a law that only women can contest election then the case was different. In Delhi also, I have noticed that in Delhi also they are giving tickets to young women, thinking that if women are taken into control then the whole family will automatically come under control,” he said.
Notably, Shahi Imam of Ahmedabad Jama Masjid has time and again made inflammatory remarks. On December 3, he urged Muslim voters to vote for a single party rather than splitting their votes as they did in 2012.
Siddiqui said in a statement to ABP news that Muslims are messaging each other on WhatsApp and reminding each other of the 2012 elections. During the 2012 elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate won the Muslim-majority seat of Jamalpur because Muslim votes were divided.
Interestingly, in 2012, local leader Sabir Kabliwala ran against the Muslim candidate fielded by Congress and received over 30,000 votes. Consequently, BJP was able to claim victory by a margin of 6,000 votes. AIMIM has fielded Kabliwala from Jamalpur’s seat in the current elections.