[Reader-list] Everybody loves a bad fatwa

TaraPrakash taraprakash at gmail.com
Thu May 20 23:08:55 IST 2010


Thanks for bringing this to our notice that media suddenly has become such 
as described in this mail. They were always hungry for news and added 
sounbites, as many as possible. I wonder if anyone has sympathy for the 
mortified self of the writer.


The author clarifies the language of the fatva, which makes the fatva more 
deplorable.
"It is
unlawful for Muslim women to do job in government or private
institutions where men and women work together and women have to talk
with [to] men frankly and without veil." Now which law are they talking 
about? Shouldn't they specify? The language suggested to me that law of the 
land prohibits Muslim women from going to the government or private offices 
without veil. Looks like if because of a disability a muslim woman couldn't 
speak (frankly or otherwise) it is lawful to work in those offices as long 
as you covered yourself.

And what happens to the question of salary, which the fatva ignored? You can 
earn salary even without going to the office. There are internet based jobs 
that you can perform from home to remain in the despicable shackles of a 
medieval "law." Does the fatva ignore the question because the answer goes 
without saying? If it is haram she should not be able to keep it and the 
male member of the family is justified to gobble it up. If it is halal, then 
it should be gobbled up by the family. The woman has no individual 
existence.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Javed" <javedmasoo at gmail.com>
To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 20, 2010 11:01 AM
Subject: [Reader-list] Everybody loves a bad fatwa


> Everybody loves a bad fatwa
>
> Within 24 hours of this news being flashed on NDTV this week, all
> major media of India have reported this over a month old fatwa. And
> every new report had added information that was not even there, says
> KASHIF-UL-HUDA. Pix: the Deoband seminary.
>
> Posted Thursday, May 13 23:11:03, 2010
>
> Everybody loves a bad fatwa. And why not? Newspapers, for it fills the
> front page for its readers; Television channels, for it brings in the
> audience; communalists, for it plays into the image of Muslims as
> backwards; and activists, because it gives them a chance to reinforce
> their secular credentials. Never mind that this fatwa will not change
> the lives of millions of Muslims and may be text of the fatwa is not
> what it has been reported or may be the said fatwa doesn't even exist.
>
> A fatwa is nothing but a religious opinion from a religious scholar to
> a question asked by a Muslim on a particular situation that he or she
> may be facing or might face in future, and does not know what should
> be appropriate way to act in light of Islamic teachings. A mufti then
> issues a fatwa or opinion based on his understanding of the question
> and Islam. Just as different medical doctors will have difference of
> opinion regarding diagnosis and a treatment plan, it is common for
> different muftis to give different opinions on the same question.
>
> Media circus
>
> At least once every year, on a slow news day, some enterprising
> journalist finds a fatwa that will fit the stereotype about Muslims
> being backward or Muslim scholars being ignorant or out of touch with
> the real world or both, and publish a news story based upon this
> 'prized' fatwa. Let's take the example of the fatwa issued by Darul
> Uloom Deoband that is making the round in news cycles this week.
>
> The fatwa in question was issued more than a month ago and one can
> ask, why the sudden interest by media in this particular fatwa? A
> fatwa that is only a sentence long has had numerous newspaper columns
> space and hours of airtime devoted to it. The media bosses have
> decided that it is an important fatwa because it has all the right
> keywords to keep the readers, audience, and therefore revenue coming
> in.
>
> One has to question the motive of the major media regarding this
> fatwa. There is more to this than meets the eye when the Indian media
> which is obsessed with breaking news and exclusives these days picks
> up a fatwa that was issued more than a month ago. Within 24 hours of
> this news being flashed on NDTV on Tuesday (May 11th, 2010) this week,
> all major media of India have reported it. And every new report had
> added information that was not even there.
>
> Let's look at the fatwa first.
>
>
> Question number 21031
> (http://darulifta-deoband.org/viewfatwa.jsp?ID=21031) to Darul Ifta
> (house of fatwas) of Darul Uloom Deoband asked by someone in India
> states: “Asalamu-Alikum: Can muslim women in India do Govt. or Pvt.
> Jobs? Shall their salary be Halal or Haram or Prohibited?” Answer
> published on April 4th, 2010 simply answers it as follow: “It is
> unlawful for Muslim women to do job in government or private
> institutions where men and women work together and women have to talk
> with [to] men frankly and without veil.”
>
>
> Headlines
>
> Now let's look at some of the headlines of news reports about this fatwa:
>
> Fatwa against working Muslim women: NDTV
>
> Fatwa to working Muslim women: Don't talk to male colleagues: NDTV
>
> Women's earnings haram, says Deoband: Times of India [Print edition]
>
> Deoband fatwa: It's illegal for women to work, support family: Times
> of India [Online]
>
> Don't talk to male colleagues: Darul Uloom's fatwa to all working women: 
> DNA
>
> Muslim women can't work: Deoband: Samay Live
>
> Darul Uloom says Muslim women can't work in public: India Today
>
> Now, fatwa against working women: Indian Express
>
> Women Working with Men Un-Islamic: Deoband: Outlook
>
> Fatwa against men-women proximity at workplace: Zee News
>
> In case you ever wondered why there is no successful supermarket
> tabloid in India, this is your answer. There is no need for one
> because major media in India does that job very well.
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