Hyderabad: More women are now becoming muftis in the city in order to reach out to Muslim women who are hesitant to approach male muftis to sort out their problems.
A mufti is a legal expert who is empowered to give rulings or advice on religious matters. Muftis issue fatwas based on the questions asked and in the light of Islamic laws and preaching.
A fatwa is an opinion that Muslims seek on a range of subjects, such as divorce, adoption, namaz and roza, property issues, general issues, banking etc.
Several Islamic seminaries and schools in the country offer Mufti courses. But almost all of them are for men.
The Jamiat-ul-Mominath seminary at Moghalpura in the Old City is the first and only institution to offer a Mufti course for women.
“We want Muslim women to also seek advice after discussing their issues openly and without any social stigma. Keeping this in mind, the course was started,” said Hafiz Mastan Ali, founder of the academy.
He said that initially, only a handful of women enrolled for the course, but later on the numbers are now encouraging. “This year we have about 17 women who are taking the course.”
Those who have passed the ‘Fazil course’ (post-graduation) offered by any Islamic seminary are eligible for the Mufti course of one year’s duration. The academy has so far trained 355 women as muftis and the process is continuous.
“A total of 1,000 questions pertaining mostly to women’s issues have been prepared and every day we give three or four questions to the students and ask them to find answers for it along with references,” said Nazima Aziz, head of the Fatwa department at Jamiat-ul-Mominath.
Students here are now, also learning how to use computers and enrolling for other vocational courses, such as tailoring, hand embroidery and craft courses.
The institution also offers modern education including English language.
The demand for this has come from the students themselves who are looking to get jobs after completing the courses.
“All girls are not allowed to go out and work due to the conservative background of the families they come from. For such girls we are imparting training in tailoring and other related courses,” says Hafiz Mastan Ali, founder of Jamiat-ul-Mominath seminary.
- Jamiat ul Muminath was set up in 1991.
- The Mufti course for women was started about 12 years ago.
- About 2,500 girls and women study at the institution, and around 400 live in its hostels.
- The institution offers vocational training to its students as well as modern education.
