Bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction: Kanthapuram

Kochi: Islamic scholar Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar on Sunday said women should remain confined to their homes, days after a controversial Samastha circular advised against women appearing on public platforms.

The Kanthapuram faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the state's prominent Sunni-Shafi scholars' body, had said last week that religious celebrations and programmes should be conducted within prescribed boundaries.

In a recent circular, Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama president E Sulaiman Musliyar and general secretary Kanthapuram A P Aboobacker Musliyar directed that women should not share stages with men or appear in public spaces alongside them. The circular drew criticism, with several women political leaders speaking out against it.

Speaking at an Islamic conference in Kochi on Sunday, Kanthapuram said bringing women onto public platforms would lead to "great destruction" and claimed that Islam prescribed purdah for women to prevent this.

"It is precisely recognising that bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction that Islam mandated purdah for women. The Holy Quran states that women should live confined within their homes and must not make public appearances," he said.

Kanthapuram said such views had been taught by knowledgeable religious scholars, particularly leaders of Samastha, for the past 100 years.

"Therefore, you must understand that it is because all knowledgeable people, especially the leaders of Samastha, taught this here for 100 years that the women in this country have maintained their honour and dignity," he said.

He said religious scholars who had studied the religion had an obligation to speak on the issue and would continue to do so despite objections.

"When this is said, if leaders of any other organisation or Samastha leaders object to or question it, we have studied the religion and therefore have an obligation to say it. We will say it and continue to say it. No one can make us stop," he said. PTI