Nepal, Muslim women defy tradition and pray in public
Kathmandu (AsiaNews)
- Nepal's Muslim women have begun to challenge the social taboo and, in
a first gesture
of independence, have joined the rest of the Islamic faithful to prayer Namaj (Friday prayers, one of the five pillars
Islam) in public. Nisha Jaitun says:
"Muslim women are able to do
what men do. And for the first
time have decided to leave their
villages, challenging the tradition
that women should be locked in
the house for prayer and we joined the
others. We are ready to protest against male domination of Islam. "
Although in the Muslim world there is no dogmatic discrimination
between the sexes, in Nepal
- where Islam is applied with strict social rules -
Muslim women were forbidden from going to a mosque.
Ayesha Khatun, from
Taulihawa, adds: "We also learned from the Nobel
Peace Laureate Malala. A young
girl who fights for education is
a great example. If she had been forced to submitto Islamic taboos,
and had remained between
the four walls of her homes, she would never have reached this great
achievement".
At Namaj, dozens of women prayed with the men near
the Badi mosque. Mohana Ansari, a leader of
Muslim women and human rights activist, believes that these discriminatory practices lead to the subjection
of women in Nepal: "In Islam, the role of women is very submissive,
and this also creates social discrimination. Many women have no education and cannot find work. This is why whoever breaks the mold makes a good first step towards progress and development in this part of the country "
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