COLLOQUIUM PROCEEDINGS

Mainstreaming the Indian Muslim Women

The Way Forward

Organized by

Centre for Womens Studies

Maulana Azad National Urdu University Hyderabad

In collaboration with
National Commission for Women New Delhi

Edited by
Dr. Ameena Tahseen
Director, CWS, MANUU

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0

International License. To view a copy of this license, visit
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements
DR. AMEENA TAHSEEN

Foreword
PROF. KHWAJA M. SHAHID

6
8

Preface
DR. AMEENA TAHSEEN

Keynote Address

10

PROF. AMINA KISHORE

Address by Guest of Honor

16

MS. SHAMINA SHAFIQ

Address by Chief Guest

20

MS. LALITHA KUMARAMANGALAM

Presidential Address

24

PROF. FATIMA ALI KHAN

Inclusion of Madrasa Girls in Mainstream

Education System -Problems & Prospects

27

DR. AMEENA TAHSEEN

Religious Fundamentalism and Muslim Womens

Struggle for Gender Justice

46

DR. SHAHIDA

10

In Search of A Space: The Indian Muslim Woman

DR. GULFISHAAN HABEEB

11

Economic Empowerment of Excluded Muslim

Women through Islamic Micro Finance: A Case
of Hyderabad
PROF. FARIDA SIDDIQUI

52
60

1
2

12

Contract Marriages A study in Hyderabad

93

DR. NAJAMUS SAHER

13

Mainstreaming the Indian Muslim Women

The Way Forward.

97

MS. FARIDA HUSSAIN

14

Empowerment of Muslim Women in India

MS. SHABANA KESAR

15

Girl Students of Deeni Madaris and their Role in

the Mainstream Development Process

104
114

DR. RAFAT SEEMA

16

Mainstreaming of the Indian Muslim Women

Few Suggestions

121

Ms. DILNAZ BAIG

17

Mainstreaming of the Indian Muslim Women A Grass Root Level Perspective

124

MS. RUBINA NAFEES FATIMA

18

Empowerment of Muslim Women Education &

Training

127

MS. QAMAR JAMALI,

19

Dropout of Muslim Girls Reasons & Remedies

(A study with reference to School Education in

134

Hyderabad)
MS. RUQIA TASKEEN

20

Evolving Role of Women in Muslim Societies

139

MS. KANEEZ FATIMA,

21

Role of Media in Empowerment of Muslim

Women

143

MS. RASIA NAYEEM HASHMI

Acknowledgements
It is my prime duty to place on record my sincere thanks for the
faith bestowed on me by Prof. Mohammed Miyan, Former ViceChancellor, MANUU and Prof. Khwaja M. Shahid, Vice-Chancellor I/c,
MANUU, to shoulder the responsibilities of Centre for Womens Studies,
MANUU. I acknowledge their immense support with a deep sense of
gratitude to organize the Colloquium on Mainstreaming the Indian
Muslim Women The Way Forward in collaboration with the
National Commission for Women, New Delhi on 24-02-2015, as a first
activity after taking the charge of director of the Centre.
I acknowledge with appreciation the whole-hearted cooperation
and association extended by the National Commission for Women to
conduct the Colloquium. I place on record my gratitude to Honble
Chairperson, NCW, Smt. Lalitha Kumaramangalam for her valuable
presence as Chief Guest of the programme, and also I am indebted to Ms.
Shamina Shafeeq, Member NCW, for her great efforts to organize the
colloquium and to grace the occasion by participating as a Guest of
Honour.
I take this opportunity to record my gratitude to Prof. Fatima
Alikhan (Former Head, Dept. of Geography, & Director, CWS, OU) for
her remarkable participation to chair the programme and enlightening the
audience with her presidential address. I am also indebted to Prof. Amina
Kishore, (Professor, Abul Kalam Azad Chair-MANUU) for her
thoughtful key note address. She has been always a source of immense
support for me. I acknowledge her support with deep sense of gratitude.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the resource
persons & paper presenters for their cooperation rendered on me.
6

Without their active participation & support it would have not been
possible to conduct the Colloquium and to bring out the papers in the
compiled form. My special thanks to
Dr. Gulfishaan Habeeb, (Associate Professor, English, DDE, MANUU)
for her great support in editing the text.
I want to thank my supporting staff for their cooperation in
organizing the programme and bringing out this proceedings.

Dr. Ameena Tahseen

Director, CWS, MANUU

Foreword
It is a well accepted fact that Women in general, particularly in India, are
not treated well by the society. Whether it is social status or violence or
remuneration for the services rendered or sexual harassment, the women
are at the receiving end.

There have been a number of researches,

discussions and debates to address this issue. These efforts might have
contributed in some improvements, but a lot more is still desired to be
done. In a society, which is historically male dominated; it is a daunting
task to make people understand the importance of due respect and status
to women. A society cannot claim to be civilized or progressive unless it
provides a respectful, honourable and safe place to its women folk. There
is, no doubt that a number of laws and organizations are in place to work
for the welfare of women. It is, however, more important to change the
mindset of the men and also women wherever necessary.
It is very important for self-respect and redemption of the status
of women that they should be provided as good education as is provided
to men. It will be heartening to note that wherever women entered in to
any profession on the basis of their education, skills and knowledge, they
have out-performed the men. It reiterates the importance of education for
women. The educated women will not only contribute to the knowledge
base of the society but will also economically enrich it. I very strongly
subscribe that a woman with economic and financial strength will occupy
a high position in the society which she deserves.
The crisis of values in present day societies can also be taken
care of by an educated and respected woman as a mother, sister, wife,
daughter or in any other capacity. She has to be given a befitting status
independent of her relationship to the men folk.

I feel that Indian Muslim Women are also facing all those
challenges which are being faced by women from other socio-religious
and cultural groups. No doubt there can be certain specific issues to
Indian Muslim Women, but same will be true to the women of other
groups. The need is to tell the society to respect the women and treat
them with equality.
The Colloquium on "Mainstreaming the Indian Muslim
Women The way forward" has aptly discussed the issues related to
women and found a way forward. I am glad that the papers received on
the topic are being printed in the form of a book. The message of the
Colloquium is required to be taken forward. This book is a right step in
the right direction. But the need is to travel much beyond the book to
enlighten the men and women of the street, houses, offices, academic
institutions etc.

(Prof. Khwaja M. Shahid)

Vice-Chancellor I/c, MANUU

Key Note Address

Prof. Amina Kishore

Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Chair, MANUU
aminak@rediffmail.com

Prof Fatima Ali Khan, Mrs Kumaramangalam, Mrs Shamina Shafiq and
Dr. Amena Tahseen Congratulations. The topic and the event are both so
timely and the wording is apt.
A meaningful triangular partnership is visible today: The
academics are sitting together with the governmental agency and the field
specialists at one table. In the discussion of gender issue it is such
partnership that is efficacious and mutually facilitating.

I wish the

organizers had also included a representative of the Ulema so that the

discussion of the issues pertaining to the Indian Muslimah could be
complete. (About my own last point I am going to contradict myself a
little bit but to that later.)
I shall start with two critical observations. In spite of constantly
evolving theorizing about Human Rights and gender justice, there is very
little serious Islamic gender discourse. In late 20th century historians like
Gail Minault and Barbara Metcalf had referred to the new stirrings in
Indian society to redefine the Indian Muslim Womens image. In the first
decade of the 21st century commentaries by social critics like Zarina
Bhatty, Asghar Ali Engineer and Tahera Aftab emphasized the need for
interventions on behalf of the Indian Muslim Woman. Islamist feminist
groups were seen emerging in Mumbai, Kerala etc. In spite of what
appeared like a renascence we see that no path breaking changes have
occurred. There is a stasis in the whole matter. Our analyses are the same.
10

Our arguments continue to border on the dismal and the stereotypes

persist.
Let me spell out the stereotypes as I perceive them. Whenever
the problem of the backwardness of Muslim Women has been analyzed it
has been seen against the backdrop of Islam. Islamist Feminists tend to
believe that the Muslim Womans backwardness is primarily due to the
patriarchal interpretation of the Islamic text. Once this becomes a
predetermined supposition the society outside of Islam feels free of any
responsibility whatsoever and it is decided that all problems will be
solved if the corrective comes from within.
Looking at Islam and the Islamic gender statement as an obstacle
to womens rights is a very limited perspective. Every religion has
enabling and disabling factors related to gender, class, caste and numbers
etc. The perceptions of one religionist about the other is always limited
by ignorance of the inside story. The story of the marginalization of the
Indian Muslim Woman is the story of marginalization within the
marginalized groups. It is important to look into the social economic and
political factors and find solutions for the issues that trouble this doubly
marginalized group. I do not agree with the theory that the
marginalization of the Indian Muslim Woman comes exclusively from
within. I also do not subscribe to the view that the Muslim woman is a
voiceless victim solely of patriarchal highhandedness. It is the habit of the
Western feminist groups to perceive the Indian Muslim woman as a
creature of monolithic oppression. This view neglects to see the many
other shades and types of victimization.
Mostly the Indian Muslim Woman is represented in a onedimensional light, the wearer of Hijab, a bearer of many children, a slave
to husbands vagrancy, etc. In my opinion the Indian Muslim woman
11

carries with herself many more layers of meaningful identities. The

portrayal of a pitiful creature the Muslim woman caught within a barbaric
misogynist male dominated world is a construct of the colonizing west.
As Amartya Sen has said in an article he wrote in 1999 the case of the
Muslim woman in India is one of accumulated disadvantages. We need
to look at all causes of deprivation, rather than concentrate on one. A
blanket view of the Muslim community will not give us the true picture
Actually the Muslim womans story is no different from the story of the
non-Muslim

woman

in

India,

though

with

some

additional

disempowering factors. What are the demands that any woman may make
to achieve empowerment and to arrive at the mainstream?
Access to Health
Access to Education
Right to Practice their own Religion
Protection under the law of the country
These demands are demands of what we may term as everyday
Feminism. No society and no religion can deny the right mindedness of
these demands. When there is a perceived obstacle to these basic needs
and when the womans right to dignified existence comes under fire that
is the moment where the woman needs the helping hand of the other.
Law, Scripture, custom and tradition all have to be adjusted and amended
if need be to establish justice and equality.
Today we are speaking of mainstreaming the Indian Muslim Women. The
organizers of this event have added an expanding phrase to the theme: the
way forward. It is a good reminder to move on and stopping flogging
dead horses. The idiom has to change from one of closed arguments and
blaming a perceived agent of the ailment. We must speak in terms of

12

positive action, Beyond that, we have to chalk out a follow up plan and
implement it.
Mainstreaming the Indian Muslim woman does not simply mean
increase the numbers of women in the system and creating a visibility of
participation in public enterprises. The Indian Muslim Woman needs to
be empowered as a Woman first and then given some special attention to
her specificity of being a Muslim woman. Her difference must be
honoured and her equality must be assured on all counts. Her community
identity should in no way be a retarding factor in any consideration. This
is necessary because there is a frightening possibility of the oft repeated
formula

of

poor

oppressed

Muslim

Woman

becoming

psychologically accepted reality and the women may get habituated to the
self image of passive victim.
One sees it happening already with women in India. A woman
police officer was recently heard saying she does not like to take late
evening duties because women are not safe on the roads after dark!!
Social consciousness should change. Institutions must allow
space to women and consciously take steps to prevent overmasculinisation of the system. Aberrations should not become acceptable
as norms. We have always said the Education is a strong weapon. I'm
afraid we have let that become a mere slogan. What is important is that
education should seep into the social consciousness of both men and
women. Education should be respected for what it is. There are three
main results of education. It is a builder of personality and a provider of
livelihood. More than this, education gives us knowledgeknowledge of
the Self and of the other.
13

Institutions like MANUU should add an edge to the formal

education program and start vocational education facilities for women,
with greater care taken to encourage Muslim women with an eye to the
ground reality. Parallel education is a means of adding that necessary
edge to education. I trust that the Center for Womens Studies and
Department of women Education can come forward for working out such
schemes. You can also run awareness programs for creating awareness
about existing Governmental schemes for women, SHGs, legal remedies,
Islamic banking etc. These are enabling and quality enhancing moves.
Apart from this Social attitudinal changes are also needed.
In the last three decades or so, there has been a growth in the
number of Muslim women activist groups who are operating in various
spheres of Womens issues. Their presence in the English language media
has been a major means of mainstreaming the issues of Muslim women.
Another healthy aspect of this emergence of the Muslim woman activism
is that much of it is emerging from the grass root non-elitist sphere.
Intelligently these groups are working in the field and spreading
awareness without taking up any cudgels with the system- whether of the
institutionalized religions or the social systems.
If the partnership of institution and field activist continues I am
sure that true mainstreaming will take place. I stand by the belief that out
there are many learned Muslim men, Ulemas, and Muslim organizations
who see the need to repair the obsolete patterns of exclusivity and
indifference towards women. The woman in Islam occupies a place of
dignity. It is for the male counterparts to accord the dignity and equality
to women which the Islamic text already provides. This done, true
mainstreaming becomes possible, with governmental policies and
education filling the rest of the gaps.
14

What yet needs to be done is to hold dialogues across the gender

divides. All said and done, after 60 years of independence, after a 20
years' war against gender bias, Indian Society is reeling under the
onslaught of prurient sexuality and the licentiousness of the tongue.
Unless women mainstream themselves and take up positive leadership
this loosening of the cultural fabric of the society will not be prevented.
The modern day idiom is on a downslide.
Indifference and insensitivity towards gender-respect allows
men in high & low places to use language carelessly. Discomfited, hurt
and embarrassed, women will retire into the shell of silence. I hope some
of you will raise a voice in the course of the day about this new weapon
of silencing the women a language of abuse and indignity.

THANK YOU.

15

Address
Ms. Shamina Shafiq
Member NCW, New Delh

16

It is important to understand the reason for discussing about

mainstreaming Muslim Women and the issues affecting them. Unless we
understand the issues we cannot address the problems. When I came to
Hyderabad last time and visited the women of the Old City, many
important issues came up before us. One woman told me that her husband
had remarried and thrown her out of the house along with four children.
But when she went to a police station to book a complaint against him,
the Police Officer told her that he cannot do anything for her because this
practice is common in the Muslim community. This is the problem at the
grass root. Unless the other people of the country understand the
problems or issues related to shariah or Islamic issues or personal law
issues, how will they address the issues concerning Muslim women? The
other thing is, why are we talking about mainstreaming? We are not only
talking about the mainstreaming of Muslim women: we are talking about
Dalit women, we are talking about all marginalized sections of the
society. As we are here in this University we thought we would be talking
about Muslim women. NCW is not only talking about the mainstreaming
Muslim women.

NCW is not about the Muslim women or Hindu

women or Sikh women or Christian women: it is about Indian

women. But we also need to understand that Indian women are not just
Indian women: they are tribal women, they are Dalit women, there are so
many other categories in which women are already divided and already
are living in. Therefore, their situations are different and to understand
those situations is very important. Most of us know the problems because
womens problems are universal irrespective of whether she is living on a
mountain or whether she is living on a plain or whether she is living in a
desert, whether she is Muslim or Hindu the problems are universal. Yet
because of religious identity or their geographical identities the solutions
might be different. So we have to look into solutions and that is why
perhaps to the best of my understanding we are here today. After this
17

also, the dialogue is not going to end. I request all the eminent panelists,
all the speakers and anybody for that matter in this house, if you have
solutions place them before us. I dont find many NGOs who are working
especially towards the cause of Minority women be it Sikh women or be
it Jain women. When the Expert Committee of the Minority Women
searched for NGOs working on Jains not even a single organization came
forward which said that it had worked for the women belonging to the
Jain community. We could not found a single organization. So it not just
about one community, it is about several other communities and women
living in those communities. We have to mainstream women living in
those communities.
There are some best practices. Can we share those practices and
save time in reinventing the wheel? When we look towards the South, we
know categorically that we are going to get some good results in terms of
best practices. In Kerala, there are organizations that are working in a
very good functional manner as far the Muslim women are concerned.
We know when it comes to (the erstwhile) Andhra Pradesh, there are very
good organizations. When we talk about the South there is a lot of
seriousness. It is not just one dialogue that NCW has initiated. It is a
series of six dialogues in two months across different states. We are
trying to come out with solid recommendations and best practices which
can then be taken on to the right platform.

18

It is time to Act and as a Muslim woman, not as a member of

NCW, I feel strongly that there is a huge gap which needs to be filled. As
a responsible member of NCW, I feel it is my duty to ensure that this gap
is filled. We need to have solutions and solutions could not be restricted
only to the government but also to the civil society, to the NGOs, and to
the activists. It is now time to talk about Individual Social Responsibility.
When we are talking about CSR Corporate Social Responsibility, I
personally advocate ISR Individual Social Responsibility. If we just
start working in our family, our extended family, our neighbourhood in
terms of empowering and mentoring, we are also doing what Islam
preaches i.e. first take care of your family, then your neighbours, then
your community.
We need to take the first step. The Constitution of India has
given us equal rights. We need awareness about and access to the various
schemes and programmes. As responsible Indians, it is our duty to ensure
that all the programmes and policies of the Government of India and of
the state governments reach out to the last person in the queue. For that
we need to have collaborative effort and ensure that we do hand holding
by ourselves first and share it across so that more people are inspired.

19

Address
Smt. Lalitha Kumaramangalam
Chairperson, NCW, New Delhi.
The problems of women are similar across communities, across the
countries, across the religions and it does not make any difference
whether one is Hindu or Muslim or Christian or whether you live in India
or you live in Australia or you live in the Middle East or anywhere else.
Women have very similar problems. We have been talking about the
problems of women across communities; its not any religion that
marginalizes women.

Across the world it is in the practice of the

religion that mistakes happen and that is a human fault. Again there are
mistakes in practices of every religion. The problem of the non-inclusion
of women is that women are not included in many aspects of life that they
should be included in whether it is education or nutrition. Indian women
dont get the nutrition that they deserve.

In India women dont get

educated as much that they should be. In India they dont get recognition
that they work as hard or harder than most of the men in this country
whether it is in the north-east, whether it is in the south, whether it is in
the east of India. There is no financial value put on the amount of work
that women do. Internationally the figure is that the women do about
70% of the work and they get hardly 1% of salary earned internationally.
Also they own less than 10% of property again throughout the world.
India is no different.

20

All I am saying is all women deserve equal opportunities. Men

and women can never be equal: no two human beings are equal. Some
will be better than others; some will be less than others. Again that has
nothing to do with religion or even gender. Actually what we are here for
today is to address the gender imbalance of Muslim women. Gender
imbalance exists across the world. But the point is that, when we talk
about women we automatically talk first of the problems they face. Why
dont we talk about the talent that they have? Women are intrinsically
talented one of the first speakers today spoke about the biology of a
woman that holds her back some times. We must recognize it is that
biology that makes us mother; it is this biology that makes us so strong; it
is this biology on the basis of which life continues on this earth.
When you educate a woman or you allow a woman to come
forward and to grow according to her own opportunity etc., you dont just
allow the woman to grow, you allow her whole family to grow. Women
are naturally inclusive: it is almost part of our genes. For us, we are the
least important people for ourselves. Perhaps this is the mistake that all
women make. We must also learn to make ourselves important. I am not
saying merely as mothers, or sisters or friends or even as educators but
also as women.
Every religion talks about values and about the same values integrity, honesty, mutual respect, talent and to be able to tell the truth.
But unfortunately today our school system has forgotten to teach these
things to our children. Every school should have value education because
unconsciously we observe things from schools. We do not teach our boys
and girls to work together as a unit and that is a lot of damage to our
country. We have forgotten to teach our boys and girls that they must
mutually respect each other. Where there is lack of respect, there are
always problems that we face like the problem of violence against
women.
21

Violence against women, unfortunately, is universal. It doesnt

matter in what religion you are born into; it doesnt matter across caste,
class even the economical divide. That is probably the only place where it
doesnt make any difference if you are a rich or a poor family or a middle
class family, a women still gets bashed up and this is something you must
talk across the table.
Since we are standing in Urdu University we are talking
specially about the problems of Muslim women. But from everything I
heard, most of the problems are identical to the women that we work
with. However, there are also religious lines that are drawn in every
community. There are some solutions that have to be offered to use
specially how to include Muslim women in ICT skill, that is in
information and communication technology skill, for example. Every
woman regardless of age, now a days has a mobile phone. We can use
that for skill development. We can use that for inclusion.
There are programmes now developed by the Indian
Government which include huge programmes of skill. Employability is
very poor and unless you have economic independence or at least you are
able to stand on your own feet, it is almost impossible to be empowered.
Again it does not matter if you are a man or a woman. Even men who are
not employable are normally disempowered compared to other men from
our own country. Women are less empowered than them because women
traditionally have not left their homes to come out and look for work.
Here as the head of the commission I am supposed to address the
problems of women specially the problems of violence against women.
You know when a women is raped it doesnt matter what religion she
belongs to; she is still raped; she has to still live with that for the rest of
her life.

22

We have to come up with specific solutions for women like that,

which is also why we decided that we have to talk with the members of
the minorities communities. Its not just Muslim women: we started with
you but I am starting to talk with Christian women also. Every woman
must have a chance to grow into her own potential.
If women are left behind, the country will lag behind. This is
what everybody must understand, but men must also be equal partners.
Historically, the womens movements have left men out and that has
created a lot of problems today. We need to bring men on board. Both
men and women must take equal responsibility.
Instead of merely looking at our problems, the time has come
also to start looking at solutions to our problems. Every one of us has the
capacity to come up with some idea or the other which can be a solution.
That is what I want really out of this meeting. All of you who presented
papers, please send me solutions because that is what I can take forward.
Everybody more or less know women face violence; they have not been
given educational opportunities; they need social and family support etc.
How do we get that? How do we achieve that? We need solutions and
women have to be included in mainstreaming. Ultimately women should
have equal access and equal opportunity these are the two important
points.
They must have equal access especially in education, nutrition
and finance. They have to be skilled so that they can stand on their own
feet. They should have the confidence to be able to ask for what they
think is their right. They have to have the skill to be able to put that right
to good use to transform the opportunities they have been given by
empowerment. It is all about justice to all and the best form of justice is
empowerment.
23

Presidential Address
Prof. Fatima Alikhan
Former HOD
Dept. of Geography, OU
fatima.alikhan@gmail.com
I personally congratulate the Organizers, Centre for Womens
Studies, MANUU and National Commission for Women for conducting
this Colloquium on such an important topic.
In today's discussion a lot of points have been raised, and I hope that
the organizers would make a summary of some of the issues and
document it because these were important issues. One thing which has
been said many times is that, these issues are universal to women across
the world. But then there are also some specific issues within each
religious community. Every religion has given rights to women. Islam
there is no disputing, has given many more rights to women than to men,
but then we have to introspect as to what happened with Muslim women,
what happened that we are considered to be oppressive to our women.
Somewhere along the line these wonderful ideas that were propagated by
Islam have been subverted, hijacked, whatever you want to say. So we
need to look within the community. There are issues that need to be
addressed within the community. There are issues that need to be
addressed by civil society, there are issues that need to be addressed by
the Government.

24

In today's discussion we have solid support from National

Commission for Women, and it seems a very strong commission to work
on Women Issues. I am very happy to see that, the members of the
commission are here to listen about Muslim Women and looking for the
strategies for the upliftment of Muslim Women. We hope that something
will change.
I have one suggestion, which I have been saying constantly, it is that,
women and men really need to understand why the situation is like this. It
means that there has to be some Gender Sensitization programmes, and
this perhaps needs to be built into our School Education. I find that the
component for Social Studies has been declining. We had History and
Geography as independent subjects. Now they are one fourth of one paper
in school and within that paper Curriculum Developer or Educationist
keeps putting various things. Now I think we need to also put one
component either call it Human Rights which the AP Govt. has already
done and Womens Rights can come under that. But we also need to
have something related to Gender Sensitization. Unless we do that most
of the women may not recognize that they are not getting a fair deal.
Most of the women do not understand when they are being exploited. I
was also a part of a cell which looked into schools Gender Violence
etc, and its not just the students, it was the women staff of the school,
they were also exploited. So we need to have Gender Sensitization
contents into our curriculum .So that at least that terminology gets into
our system and then once somebody is given an idea they begin exploring
it themselves and then women can take it up throughout their life.
25

Exploitation of women has increased across the world, even the

most developed countries has not given a fair due to their women. UNDP
has got a Gender development index which throws up various interesting
things: the more developed countries sometimes are not but a small
country like Jamaica has empowered its women much more. So we need
to take lessons about how these countries have gone about it, and each
community has to be taught that this can be achieved.
There is going to be resistance because, whenever we talk of
equality, somebody has to give in and concede something for somebody
else to get something. There is going to be resistance at all levels but this
needs to be done.
Once again I would like to congratulate, the organizers for giving this
opportunity to discuss on issues of Muslim Women. I congratulate to all
the participants for their deliberations and discussions.
Hope this exercise may find out the way forward at every level.

26

Inclusion of Madrasa Girls in Mainstream Education

System - Problems & Prospects
Dr. Ameena Tahseen
Director,
Centre for Womens Studies MANUU.
amtahseen123@yahoo.com

Muslims, being a minority in India, represent more than 14% of

the total population. Research carried out by the social scientists in
previous years, have proclaimed the startling Socio-Economic and
educational status of Muslims. The facts shown in those particular
researches are that Muslim community is trailing behind, as compared to
other minorities in India. Muslims are even far backward than the
scheduled caste and scheduled tribes in many aspects. 1 Muslims declared
as Backward community in India . 2
According to Sachchar Committee Report, Muslims lie
backward at the extreme margin in all aspects of life (Socio-Economic
and educational as well). Its been derived from the numerical
percentages regarding, educational status of Indian Muslims that, the
position is extremely deprived, whether in terms of primary level or
higher education level, compared to other ccommunities. For example,
the literacy rate among Muslims is,59.1% in 2001. It was far below the
National average with 65.1% and others with ( SRCs)70.8%. In all other
communities of India, the pass-out percentage of Matriculation is 26%(17
years or above) , whereas Muslims carry the figure with 17%.The Muslim
women education in particular, is to its acute conditions.

A result

executed in various reports vividly indicates the Gender Gap in

educational status of Muslims, from primary to higher education level.
27

Efforts towards the educational Development in colonial India

were initiated in the beginning of nineteenth century. But, the Modern
education System has been properly designed and executed after the
independence only. Many special measures adopted by the Government
of India to promote Women education. As an essence of this process,
deprived and excluded communities, backward classes, different castes,
creeds, have been indulged in the mainstream of education and
Development. Whereas, the only Muslim community, who were active
and dynamic participants in all the aspects of life at the onset of
independence, remained deprived, and slowly reached to the extreme
margin. Particularly Women of this community have descended to lowest
pitch. Observations made by Sachchar committee are gaining attention in
this regard. According to the report, Provisions and Expanded
opportunities for the promotion of education after Independence, could
not framed the equality between Muslims and other Communities
.Difference has been much increased in terms of Birth Place and
Gender, exclusive difference can be seen in Muslim women of urban
areas. This difference has been raised between Muslims and other
communities, as the time passed.The process of this transition started
in the decade of 1960. From 1983 to 2000, the prospect for the
completion of School education has increased in all the castes. This
attitude has increased even in Muslims. But Muslims are still backward
than SC(s) /ST(s). An interesting fact is that, from upper primary level to
college education, Muslims perform little better than SC(s) and ST(s).
Ratio of SC/ST students completing upper primary education is 23%,
where as Muslims hold 26%. It portrays that, primary Eeducation is an
obstacle for School education. If Muslim students surpass this obstacle,
educational process can be continued.4

28

A midst this backdrop another attention grasping reality is that,

During 1960s or 1970s the gap increased in terms of educational status
of Muslims compare to other communities at one side, but at the other
side, trend towards establishment of Deeni Madrasas in Muslim
community, hiked very much.
Although, Madrasa education system exist in India since a long
time, but after independence Madrasas (Including Maktabs and Jamiyats)
became an important source of education for many Muslims. Therefore
we find

thousands of Deeni Madrasas established in previous decades.

These Madrasas are providing educational facilities and accommodation,

especially to deprived majority of Muslim community. The fact is that, a
major part of Muslim population still prefers to educate their children in
Urdu Medium Schools or in Madrasas, mostly because of their low
Socio-economic condition. If we pay an skimming eye, Deeni Madrasas
are the prominent centers of education for economically backward
Muslim Students.5 Specifically the most preferable education for Muslim
girls is the Madrasa education.
As far as establishment of Deeni Madrasas for girls is concerned,
we can say that, numerous Deeni Madrasas have been established across
the country for education of Muslim Girls in previous decades. These
Madrasas offered various courses from basic Islamic education to higher
Islamic studies.

29

Muslim Women Education The reports on the education, published

before independence of India, revealed total different facts regarding the
educational position of the Muslim Women. Educational status of Muslim
women of that period was comparatively equivalent to other women of
India . Its been manifested in the memorandum of progress of education
in British India (1916-1926) that, in the educational field, the percentage
of Muslims was better than other communities, even the percentage of
literate girls was not less than other girls of India. In 1937, the aggregate
of Educated Muslim girls was greater than the overall Indian Educated
girls. Infact Muslim women of that period were admirably equivalent to
their contemporary in every field.6
But today, the image of Indian Muslim Women has changed
drastically. Either their literacy percentage or educational status.

At

every level of education the enrollment of Muslim Girls is comparatively

lesser than Girls of any other community. Even we can see an identical
difference between Muslim Women and other minority women and
backward classes. 7
Educational Levels Among Social Groups
Level of Education

Women Belonging to Different Social Groups

Hindu
Illiterate
Literate

Muslim

Christian

Sikh

Jain

Buddhist

Other

59.3

60.5

32.9

38.9

6.8

44.7

70.3

5.4

9.5

7.5

3.0

2.5

10.8

6.2

School

13.0

14.5

15.4

18.1

22.6

14.6

8.5

School

8.3

6.1

13.1

9.8

14.3

13.2

8.8

High School Complete

7.2

5.6

14.6

16.4

23.4

8.9

4.0

Higher Secondary

6.8

3.5

16.7

13.8

30.4

7.9

2.1

Complete and above

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

100.0

Primary
Complete
Middle
Complete

Source: National Family Health Survey, 1998-99, 11Ps, Mumbai.

30

As far as primary education is concerned, the percentage of Muslim

girls is not so lesser than Hindu and Christian girls. A although this
cannot be said, when rural areas are taken into consideration. In
rural areas girls are not systematically admitted in the schools, even
if admitted, they discontinued their schooling. There fore the
difference increases as compared to others. 8

At middle to senior

secondary or graduation level, the percentage of Muslim girls seen

lesser then Hindu and Christian girls. It shows that, Most of the
Muslim girls even cant pursue their school education completely to
reach the higher level. This difference enhances as the level of
education increases. The percentage of Muslim Girls in higher
education is 3.56% whereas; the percentage of scheduled caste
women is 4.25%. 9 Muslim women in urban India are much worse
off than rural counterparts, not only in terms of their overall
educational status as citizens of India, but also in terms of their
relatively poor educational status when compared to Hindu or
Christian women. This trend is all the more alarming when this
situation is compared to the advances in Muslim female education
achieved at the turn of the century.

10

Although various measures

adopted for the education and development of Indian women after

independence, but the facts and figures are showing that, the
affirmative actions does not approached properly to every
community in general and to the Muslim community in particular.
The reasons behind the deprived and marginalized status of Indian
Muslim women are Multi-Dimensional. If we analyze the factors
with different angles, the first and an important dimension which
come into picture is, the emergence of communal ideologies in the
society or behavior at political level after independence, which
creates complete insecure atmosphere in every sphere of life for
Muslims. A kind of inferiority complex emerged in Muslim
31

community. Due to the insecure & inferior feeling Muslims started

Isolate themselves from the mainstream of Education &
Development. Specially this insecurity and inferiority, in turn
severely effects the education and development of Muslim Women.
Another important reason also to be discussed is that, we find the
attitude of Indian Muslim community towards the female gender, is
against the teaching of Islam regarding the rights and provisions
given to Muslim women at large. The Socio-Political scenario,
Cultural Fascism, customary laws, & Gender Concepts within the
society changed the psychology of Muslim women as well. They
accept secondary position in the family and society by considering
themselves to bound and to follow the exhausting practices is
mandatory. As a result of all these factors, Muslim Women lay
dwon in the background without education, much exposure, support
and opportunities. Most of the social scientist discussed various
reasons, regarding educational backwardness of Muslim women in
rural and urban areas. No doubt, We find a little difference in Urban
areas, that the Muslim girls are moving forward for higher and
professional education, but they are very few in numbers compare
to their population in the cities. The reasons or constraints behind
this are almost the same, both in rural or urban areas. According to
the studies, the causes like conventional difficulties, on appreciation
to pursue education, absence of Urdu medium school & colleges,
residential schools or hostels for girls, especially lack of effective
teaching in Urdu medium schools etc. Other than these general
problems, the specific religious and cultural constraint also affects
the Girls education. Practice of Strict Purdah system, concept of
providing only religious education instead of modern or mainstream
education, early marriages, domestic responsibilities, scarcity of
women teachers in Schools or Colleges, high poverty, lack of
32

proper scholarships and increasing number of child labours, are few

major obstacles that lie between the paths to move forward for the
higher education.

11

Identification of the problem: Indian

education system has been polarized in the long past with the
concept of Deeni Madrasa education System. Although we cannot
compare Deeni

Madrasa

education

system

with

Modern

/Mainstream education system, but it can be proclaimed that, these

Madrasa are the prominent source of Islamic education, and ethical
training centres of the Muslim population. Establishment of
Madrasa has been more widened in the previous 20 to 30 years. The
facilities being provided by the Madrasa for the Muslim students of
economically backward families, in densely Muslim populated
areas, cannot be overlooked. Huge number of students including
boys and girls, gain vivid knowledge and information through these
Madrasa. Every year thousands of students are obtaining degrees
and certificates after completion of studies in these Madrasas.
The concept of establishment of Madrasas for girls in the Muslim
community was not so popular earlier, even as the tendency reached
its peak in the last 20 to 30 years. The most prominent reasons
behind this perception could be the SHAH BANO Muqqadma of
the 1980s, which soared to discussions and movements for the
protection of sharia, and the rights of Muslim women as per sharia.
The BABRI Masjid fiasco was another turning point in making a
move towards religious fundamentalism within the Muslim
community and in the Other Indian Communities also. The incident
drastically reverted the political and social scenario for Muslim
women. The perception of securing Muslim identity, protection of
sharia and Muslim women, blocked the majority of Muslims to the
tendency that, these Madrasas could be the secure place for them
33

and to hold the possibility of intellectual training of a Muslim

individual in Islamic perspective .This changing conditions
transformed the Muslim views and opinions to an extent that, girls
are to be admitted in these Madrasas. Therefore the tendency
increased to provide Islamic education for girls in Madrasa not only
up to primary level, but to Educate them to a higher level like,
Aalima, Fazila even up to Daktoora(Doctorate).
As such these Madrasas are catering Islamic education as well as
Modern education at least up to primary or secondary level. But the point
of discussion is, whether this kind of education system is sufficient to
enhance their life skills to live a decent or satisfactory life in India?
In the context of discussions on previous pages, the most important
point is to be focused is that, even after availing various certificates from
the Madrasas education system, thousands of students are still deprived
and Unsuccessful in booming up their socio-economic conditions in the
Indian society .They are unable to continue their education to move in a
mainstream or higher educational peaks, and to develop their skills for
compatibility with other higher / professional education system. Even
after giving sufficient years in that particular education system, the
pathetic conditions remain absolutely worrying for both men and women
in this scientific, technological and highly paced developing era.
Especially for Girls/Women it reached to a drastic position. Hence, It is
arguable that, when the Establishment of Madrasas for Girls, and the
enrolment of female students are increasing day by day, then why still
Muslim women are trailing behind on the educational and Development
fronts, compared to the other women of the Nation?

34

In the background of educational status of Muslim women in

India, and their increasing tendency towards Madrasas education system
for higher level degrees, catch the attention towards the bright dimension
where the prospects of their educational Development is vibrant and
hopeful .But at the same time the constraints, effecting their progress to
move forward in to Mainstream education, need to be addressed.
Details of Study Method:
Hyderabad is a hub of Deeni Madrasas, for both men and women.
But there is no centralized Board to supervise the functions of these
Madrasas and to maintain a common curriculum equallent to the
Degrees/certificate courses of secular education. Most of the Madrasas
are unregistered. These Madrasas are providing education from primary
to higher level in Deeniyat or Islamiyat. Good number of Madrasas are
working for girls in the Hyderabad city .They are functioning on the
charity or self help basis. Out of these, very few Madrasas are availing
government aid (Aid given under SSA programme).
The Basic objective of this study is to know about the perception
of Muslim Girls,( those who are already in Madrasas education
system)towards mainstream education system, and to inquire about the
Socio Economic and cultural constraints of these girls to move forward
for higher education.
With these objectives, few prominent Madrasas in Hyderabad were
selected for the study.These Madrasa are very active in provision of
Islamic education to Muslim Girls since several years. The Sample was
selected randomly, which includes both female teachers and students.
Data was collected by structured questionnaire, and telephonic
interviews.
35

ANALYSATION & OBSERVATIONS:

Strength in these Madrasa is about 1000 to 2000, which includes
the girls enrolled for primary classes to the Ccertificate/Degree
courses.They belongs to different age groups like, from the age
of five years to more than twenty five years.
Nearly about 80% enrolled students belongs to poor socioeconomic & educational background. Their parents are either
illiterate or studied only up to primary or secondary level. They
belong to lower income group. Most of the parents are involved
in private/petty jobs or vendors and daily wagers.
Because of their Low Socio-Economic profile, they are helpless
to pay even the lesser fees of Madrasas. Therefore, the
management of these Madrasa has to manage the whole
expenses. Number of such students is very high in the Aqamath
Khana based Madrasas (Hostel Based Schools /Residential
Madrasa).Parents cannot bare the expenses of boarding or
lodging.The Management is taking care of all expenses of the
hostels as well.
There is a high rate of drop outs in this education system. The
same reasons orbit around like, social, economical and cultural
problems, which has been already discussed on the previous
pages.
Curriculum of these Madrasa (short term and long term) framed,
basically on Dars-e- Nizami .However few other books related
to specific creeds included in the curriculum. The curriculum
has been amended to some extent. Basic English, other subjects
36

and computer proficiency also annexed with the syllabus.

Teaching of Modern subjects is carried out by the Vidya
Volunteers, appointed under SSA programme.This type of
curriculum followed only in few Madrasas.
Although such efforts are generating awareness in the girls
towards the modern/secular education, but no fruitful results are
being achieved. Basic reasons for this, the teachers who are
imparting the teaching of different Modern/secular subjects are
the part timers or contractual teachers. They have their own
problems about the working regulations and the honorarium paid
to them. They are unable to adjust themselves either with the
girls or with the system of Madrasa. Their attention is very
meager on overall educational development and evaluation of
the students progress, as like the process followed in School
education system.
Management of Few Madrasas are sincerely motivating the
students to appear for the matriculation examination. But, very
less students participate in the examination, and the rate of
success is also not up to the mark, because of poor quality of
education for subjects other than Islamiyat.

Analysis manifests that, the tendency towards Modern/Secular

higher education have been generated in Madrasa girls. Due to
that, their participation in 10th Class Examination is increasing
Slowly every year.

The pass out students of Madrasas, have the opportunity to

continue higher education in Oriental languages (A degree
course affiliated by Osmania University) or through Distance
37

education programme. Since last few years, female students of

Deeni Madrasa are taking admissions in these courses, and their
higher education in oriental languages. But number of girls
coming forward in this manner is also very very limited.
The basic reason of this transformation pointed out by the
teachers in the discussion is that, the awareness towards the
importance of Mainstream education and the need of Women
Employment or acceptance of economic contribution by women
in the family, is emerging slowly in the Muslim community.
The reality come in to light regarding the employability is that,
usually Pass out girls are appointed in the same Madrasas for the
further services,where they completed their studies.But fact is
that very few get this opportunity, and few others, impart home
tuitions on a very less fee ,where they teach Quran and basic
Islamic teachings to small girls.
On the other side, the pass out girls have the opportunity to get
the Employment in those schools or colleges, where the subjects
like Arabic or Urdu languages being taught as a second
language. To get the job in these Secular Institutions, Degrees
of modern education and Professional training stood essential.
Its been derived through analysis that,these Madrasa students
started diverting themselves towards the different mainstream
courses and training.But the problem is that, they can pursue
their higher education only in subjects like Urdu or Arabic, not
in any other subjects of social or science Groups.
Although, Modern subjects are included in few Deeni Madrasas,
but these subjects does not stand equivalent or essential for
38

every student and at every level of courses. Even the syllabus of

Alima or Fazilah is also not stand equal to higher secondary or
graduation standard framed by State government. Because of all
these factors the proceeding of Madrasa students towards
Mainstream or Higher education becomes very limited.
It is a fact that, the Degrees of very few Deeni Madrasas of India
have the status of Equivalent to Graduation and these degrees
have acquittance, based upon this, the students from Madrasa,
gets admission in various colleges or universities. Still there are
many Madrasa whose degree is not considered as equivalent to
graduation. This is an important and attention seeking problem.
Madrasas of girls in Hyderabad city have the same problem,
which needs immediate attention.
The discussed Problem, can be elaborate by taking an example
of

Maulana Azad National Urdu University.This University

provide a great opportunity for Urdu speaking community to

continue their

Higher education through Urdu Medium.

Establishment of this University took place in 1998 by an act of

Parliament. Its Distance Mode of education completed nearly
seventeen years.Conventional education with different subjects,
have been started 10 years back (2004).Instead of this
opportunity, very few students from Madrasa background takes
admission for Higher or professional courses. They are taking
admission only in subjects like, Urdu, Persian and Arabic or
Islamic studies. Whereas the admissions in Professional courses,
social sciences, or Science Group subjects is not too impressive.
In all the above discussed courses, the inclusion of girls from
Madrasa background remains acutely low in particular. The
39

situation remains the same for any other higher educational

institutions of the country.
Although, awareness towards Modern/Mainstream education
have been generated Madrasas students, but due to the limited
opportunities, gender disparities within the family, SocioEconomic and cultural constraints, they are unable to proceed
from, Madrasas to Mainstream educational field.
Among the selected sample of Fifty Girls, approximately 72% of
students have proclaimed their views over the urgent need and
importance of Higher education, parallel to Deeni Madrasa
education for their Socio-Economic Development, and put forth
the ambition of their inclusion in Higher education, So that they
can prove their abilities in various fields of Development.Only
28% of students, stated that, achievement of Islamic education is
enough for Duniya and Aqirath. According to them it is not for
any other purpose.
83% of students revealed that, they have adopted this particular
educational system to fulfill the ambitions of their parents, but
they want to continue Modern education too.
More than 80% of girls insisted for inclusion of Modern subjects
in curriculum from the beginning of the courses, as they want to
move forward from Madrasa to Mainstream or Higher
education.
An important fact is also revealed in this survey is that, the
percentage of Muslim women working as an Urdu or Arabic
teacher in different English and Urdu Medium schools is
40

comparatively much lower than the Muslim male teachers.In

accordance to the conversation with some of the female teachers
reveals that, lack of higher education and teacher training
effecting them to secure jobs in this institutions. Whereas Male
members easily get the opportunity to pursue their higher
education or training compare to Women. One more issue
discussed by the teachers is that, the limitations on the choice of
jobs imposed by the family members are also a big constrain to
move on in different areas of employment.
Most of the Female teachers revealed that, they face various
problems while working specially in the English Medium
Schools. Un awareness of modern technology, less knowledge of
latest techniques of teaching methods, non-proficiency in
English and computers, create a sort of inferiority complex in
them, and they feel in-competent to participate in various
activities of the institutions. They strongly recommend to
include English and different subjects along with Madrasa
syllabus at every level of study. In their views this may lead
Muslim Girls to explore new ways to achieve educational,
economical and social development along with Deeni services.
After the complete analisation, we can say that, there is a
positive change emerging in the mindset of Indian Muslims to
educate their girls to a higher level. This kind of transformation
is more visible in the mindset of young generation. They are
very ambitious to pursue their education to include themselves
in mainstream development. A tendency also arise to involve in
income generating activities for the upliftment of their families.

41

RECOMMENDATIONS:
At the outset the result of this study shows an identical change in mindset
of young generation Muslim girls. To promote this tendency, it is very
necessary to take measures at various levels. The Muslim community, the
State, the Social and religious organizations and the educated &
successful Muslim women should come forward to speed up the
transformation process regarding women education, for a better results.
To promote the attitude which is been urged in the Muslim Girls towards
importance of modern and higher education needs many more important
interventions.
It became necessary to change the traditional perception at large
towards the education and development of women in Muslim
community. Their skills and ability must be developed to meet
the challenges of the contemporary era.
Law and order must be strengthened to eradicate the communal
sensation and atmosphere so that, Muslim Girls/women get
secured atmosphere and they can pursue their education easily.
As per the constitutional rights, made on the the basis of
Equality and Social Justice, the Muslim Women must get all
the opportunities of education and development on par with
other women belongs to different communities.
Other than General provisions, special facilities must be
provided to Muslim women as considered them educationally
and economically most deprived or backward community of
India .In terms of Madrasa Girls, they are receiving very
limited facilities by the SSA Programmes. It is not enough to
promote or fulfil their desire towards Higher education or to
include them in Mainstream education system. Tutorials in
Madrasas, (where the number of students are more), should be

42

established for the bridge courses and to prepare them for other
parallel education.

Bridge Course should be designed with the combination of Open

School and Intermediate Syllabus. This bridge course can be
offered by AMU, JMI & MANUU.

Free education at Graduation and post graduation level with

skill development training, Establishment of more number of
Urdu

Medium

Junior

and

Degree

colleges

and

free

accommodation in Girls Hostels, Free Bus services, should be

provided to Madrasa Girls by Central Government or State
Government.
Particular measures must be taken by department of women and
child welfare, National and state Commission for Women and
Ministry of Minority Affaire, for the educational Development
of Muslim Girls.
As derived from the conversations and interviews made during
the study, women reflect the lack of confidence in completion of
social and economic necessities. Therefore a continuous
personality

development

training,

educational

awareness

programmes and Orientations should be included in the Madrasa

curriculum. This kind of training and orientation activities may
be adopted or sponsored by any national or state level
organisations, corporate sectors, or social welfare institutes,
including Government agencies.
Amendment in the curriculum of these Madrasa is unavoidably
necessary. Female students strongly recommended, to include
43

the modern subjects and to adopt new teaching methods and

training of Madrasa teachers for the quality of education.
As the Madrasa girls have minimal access to reach to the sources
of information, therefore it is necessary to organize extension
lectures and awareness programmes on importance and need of
higher

/ professional education

with all the available

opportunities. Such activities must be included as a part of the

curriculum.
It is a fact that, Islam does not loaded any kind of economic
burden or responsibility on Women, But provide her right to
work, subject to the desire, requirement and conditions.
Present scenario of livelihood in India, demands the economic
support of Muslim women in the family. As all the research
reports indicates the important reason for the deprived position
of Muslims, including educational backwardness is the result of
their low economic status.Because of poverty, most of the
Muslims prefer to give Professional / higher education to male
child only. The parents often stop the progress of girl child
education. In this context the economic contribution of Muslim
Women gains much more importance. Therefore it is the high
time for Muslim Women to move forward for the employment
or to adopt any Entrepreneurship programmes. This goal can
only be achieved when Muslim girls receive Modern and
Mainstream education along with the Islamic education.So, that
they can play a vital role for the positive and successful
transition of Muslim society.

44

References
1.

Social, Economic and Educational status of Muslim community

in India, (Sachar Committee Report) 2006, Govt of India, &
Report of the National Commission for religious & Linguistic
Minorities 2007, Ministry of Minority Affairs. PP-155-157

2.

Dr. Gopal Singh Committee 1983 Ministry of Home affairs.

3.

Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community

in India, (Sachar Committee Report) 2006, Govt of India. pp
52, 53.

4.

Social, Economic and Educational Status of Muslim Community

in India, (Sachar Committee Report) 2006, Govt of India. pp
60-64.

5.

Zoya Hassan & Ritu Menon 2005, Educating Muslim Girlspp 72.

6.

Syeda Syedain Hameed - (2000), Voice of Voiceless Social

Status of Muslim women in India National Commission for
Women pp 24.

7.

S.P. Panday, AK.Singh, Ishtiaq Ahmed (Ed)- 2007,

Educational Empowerment of Muslim Girls New Royal Book
Company Lucknow, pp 56-57.

8.

Syeda Syedain Hameed - (2000), Voice of Voiceless Social

Status of Muslim women in India National Commission for
Women pp 24.

9.

Zoya Hassan (2004) Unequal Citizen in India A Study of

Muslim women, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

10. Seema Khazi (1999) Muslim Women in India, Minorities

Rights Group international UK. pp 26.
45

11. Syeda Syedain Hameed - (2000), Voice of Voiceless Social

Status of Muslim women in India National Commission for
Women pp 23-25.

Religious Fundamentalism & Muslim Womens Struggle

for Gender Justice
Dr. Shahida
Head,
Dept. of Women Education,
MANUU
shahidamurtaza@rediffmail.com

46

There is a huge gap between Islam and Muslim community.

Especially when one looks at the status of Muslim woman, the contrast
widens further. The two authentic sources for Muslims to lead an ideal
life are the Quraan and the Ahadees. Since the original texts are in
Arabic, which is not a language of the Muslim masses in India, there is
bound to be interpretational flaws making inroads. Again it is the men
mostly who work on these scriptures to make them comprehensible and
so the patriarchal overtures find their way in. The impact is for everybody
to see - Muslim women are the most backward of all people in India.
Subjugated, oppressed, exploited, abused, hapless and most marginalized
in the name of the great religion; definitely not as envisaged by Allah. It
is often that we observe the cultural practices take religious colour and
thus the sanctity - such as denial of education, offering prayers and
listening to religious sermons in the mosques, practicing widowhood, remarriage, property rights, meher, right over earning, right to khula,
maintenance ( nan-nafaqua), denying them the equality and equity which
are the true essential elements and the spirit of Islam, and as enshrined
in Quran and as was practiced by the greatest humanitarian - the Prophet
(saws).

Misinterpretation, rather patriarchal interpretation of original

texts and lack of knowledge to women of the rights provided to them by

the religion are the two important contributory factors for gender violence
in Muslim community. These Muslim women, the world over, seem to be
undergoing tremendous discrimination in the realm of family laws.
Particularly in India, they have been voicing their discontentment over
the strong patriarchal overtures in the structure and implementation of
family laws. Be it marriage, Meher, Polygamy, divorce (triple talaq) or
maintenance, they all have a direct bearing on womens lives. There is
also an escalation in the realization of the actual provisions available
under Islamic law and that, the conservative patriarchs, who have
monopolized-both the private and the public domains alike, for ages
47

have in fact denied them their rights as is enshrined in the holy Quran.
The laws have not been reformed either for the fear that this amounts to
interference with the Divine thus making them immutable and hence
follow (Taqleed) the same strictures which were introduced fifteen
hundred years ago, or for sheer ignorance. Qurans mandate of justice,
benevolence and compassion although inviolable as values, do undergo
changes in expression and application from one age to another,
(Engineer: 1999). The progressive thinkers in the community, on the
other hand, feel it necessary to make use of the provision of the Ijtehaad
to reinterpret the law in the light of the Divine, as is necessitated by the
changing socio-cultural and political milieu. Hence, Muslim feminists are
trying to deconstruct the Muslim conceptual structures which are
products of androcentric culture and patriarchal structure of the Muslim
society during 8th and 11th century A.D.
Religion in India shapes social change and political order in
complex ways that are often misunderstood. Religions role in social
change is linked to particular configuration of state authority, religious
ideology, and institutions. Religion may promote democratization or
challenge liberal conception of rights and equality. It appears Islamic
revival does not necessarily repress women but empowers some of them,
granting a more public role in the religious community and providing a
platform for launching critical discussions on religion, rights and
nationhood. On the other hand, religious institutions can usurp
democratic state authority to promote their own agendas even in a
pluralist system like in India.

48

Reformists attention to the individual effects of religion at the grass root

level leads to better understanding of the power of religion in political
life, and it also reflects how at societal or state level, religion produces
unexpected results by

restructuring political engagement with state

structures. Muslim reformists strongly feel that they have a right to

reclaim their religion, to redefine it, to participate and contribute to an
understanding of Islam - how it is codified and implemented - in ways
that take into consideration the realities and experiences of womens lives
today. Theyre strong and vocal in their expression that shariah is not
immutable; that the interpretation is biased and non-Islamic and
patriarchal.
A discernible tension points to a divide in India today. This is
between new forces of progressive Islam with their transformative
rethinking of the religion on the one hand, and long entrenched clerical
interests re-enforcing the counter-weight of popular conservative attitudes
and practices on the other. Yet there are also growing signs of a sense of
urgency on the part of the Muslim community at large to move forward.
Alleviation of poverty, elimination of illiteracy, instituting Muslim
Personal Law and the creation of standard marriage contract,
interpretation of religious sources, especially the Quran, and inter
communal relation all vie for the attention of progressive Muslims, and
cutting through them are questions of gender.
There has been over the last decade or so a groundswell of
expectations among Muslim women and an increasingly focused
articulation in favour of them. Reforming Personal Laws in India is
bound to be a far more complex process. All change is a process of
reformist currents vying with conservative ones.

In a communally

charged society, it becomes much more difficult for the forces of reform
to triumph. But the Muslim women are no more mute witnesses to all the
unfair practices being followed in the community in the name of religion.
49

What is to be done?
Quran does not make derogatory reference to women; she is kept always
in an exalted position, be it as a daughter, wife or a mother. Her rights
override her responsibilities. Under the prevailing situations, it is
Imperative for Indian Muslim women to reclaim their right to
religious knowledge, enter the discourse on the shariah and
challenge their historic marginalization from religious knowledge
as well as its discriminatory interpretations.
Muslim women should learn/ be taught Arabic language to be able
to understand the TEXT in its spirit.
The Muslim community should assume the onus of transforming
from within Muslim Personal Law.
The National/State Commissions for Women should play a
positive interventionist role in reaching these women who are
affected by poverty, lack of knowledge of skills, and resources,
with the help of agencies who are dedicatedly working to bring
them out of the clutches of poverty, hardship and marginalization.
Programmes for their up-liftment should be framed with the
suggestions from the community/women concerned, instead of
forcing upon them what the Commission think is appropriate.
The Muslim Seminaries, Ulemas, Personal Law Board should
make concerted efforts to bring in positive reforms in Nikahnama
to safeguard the Muslim women from a life of destitution.
The Quranic mandate of justice, benevolence and compassion
although inviolable as values, nevertheless undergoes changes in
expression and application from one age to another. One needs to

50

exercise the option of Ijtehaad (Consensus) for the womens

rights as is enshrined in divine sources.
There is a need to create conducive atmosphere for the minority to
feel secure. For creating this atmosphere, the majority community
and secular political parties have to initiate the move and rise
above the politics of religion and appeasement.

51

In Search of A Space: The Indian Muslim Woman

Dr. Gulfishaan Habeeb
Associate Professor of English,
DDE, MANUU,
majesticeloquence@gmail.com
The presence of the Indian Muslim Woman on the Indian soil can be
traced back to several centuries but unfortunately, the Indian Muslim
Woman is still in search of a Space. If today in the year 2015, we are
talking about bringing the Indian Muslim Woman in the mainstream that
in itself speaks of the plight of the Indian Muslim Woman. It is not that
the Indian Muslim Woman is completely different. She is an Indian like
any other Indian and she is a woman like any other woman. Yet, the most
visible face of India in terms of the Parda or the Burqa or the Hijab
is continually rendered the most invisible. The question is not only how
to bring Indian Muslim Women into the mainstream. The question is also
how best the mainstream can allow a space to the Indian Muslim Women
so they emerge from invisibility to visibility. Indian mainstream
literature; Indian mainstream art; Indian mainstream media; Indian
mainstream advertising; Indian mainstream movies; Indian mainstream
television; Indian mainstream politics etc have all relegated the Indian
Muslim Woman to the fringes or treated her only as a stereotype.
The Voice of the Indian Muslim Woman is often curbed by the family,
the community, and the society at different levels. Nevertheless, the
Indian Muslim Woman is an integral part of the Indian society and it is
essential that her needs are addressed by the nation in the larger context
of the progress of our country. The present paper aims to throw light on
the need for a complementary relationship between the Indian Muslim
Women and Indian mainstream society for the development of the nation.
52

The two photographs showing the Panellists and the audience at a Panel
Discussion on Indian Women: Challenges and Discourse are more
evocative than my full paper can get.
The Panellists are all Hijab / Pardah observing women and so is everyone
in the audience. My point: Why is there no non-Muslim among the
women? My other point: Why is there no man? As long as we restrict the
discourse to the Muslim Women in isolation, not much can be gained. It
is important that there is a dialogue across gender and religion. Only then
the issues affecting the Muslim Women can be seen in the right
perspective. As long as inclusiveness is not a part of society, no
community can make much progress.
A major hurdle that prevents the mainstreaming of the Indian Muslim
Women is the xenophobia that prevails in the mainstream society. Even
though centuries have elapsed since Muslims first set foot on the Indian
soil, a sense of xenophobia is still clearly perceptible in the Indian
mainstream society. Muslims are relegated to the fringes or treated only
as a stereotype. Though the Indian society has been quick to adopt the
western dress sense, the burqa and the hijab (which characterize the
Indian Muslim women) are yet to find acceptance in society. Just as when
Indian women took to two wheelers and to jobs without giving up the
usual attire be it saree or shalwar kameez, similarly mainstream society
should not expect Muslim women to give up their attire or their religious
identity as they make inroads into Indian mainstream society.
The prevalent xenophobia prevents justice to the Indian Muslim women
thereby preventing them from mainstreaming. The portals of justice need
to be sensitive to the needs of the Muslim women in India who suffer
from defamation, discrimination and disparaging comments. Legal
awareness will go a long way in mainstreaming the Indian Muslim
women. Way back in 1889, when Cornelia Sorabji became the first
Indian woman to study law at Oxford University, she left no stone
53

unturned in her mission to offer legal service to the purdahnashin. She

even tried to convince the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court in preindependent India to consider having women lawyers for the purdah
observing women. (Mossman, First Women Lawyers).
The National Commission for Women Report titled Voice of the
Voiceless: Status of Muslim Women in India by Dr. Syeda Saiyidain
Hameed states: The public hearings brought out the universality of the
problems faced by the Muslim women all over India, whether they lived
in the north or south, east or west. There was a common appeal
underpinning the womens voices, Free us from oppression. (21)
The oppression is from within the self, from the family, the community,
and the society at large. One of the causes for the oppression which is rife
among the Indian Muslim women is poverty. The dismal economic
condition of the Muslims in India is projected in the NCW Report with
the support of data from Indian Human Development Report (1999):
[P]overty level of Muslims is higher than that of Non-Muslims...Muslim
representation in government jobs is less than 3 percent at higher levels
and not more than 6 percent at lower levels, which is substantially less
than their population ratio...Muslim households have the lowest annual
income.
Under such conditions, it is no wonder then that the worst suffers are the
Muslim women who get further marginalized because of their poverty
and fail to contribute to the nation. Speaking of marginalized people,
Saksena (Faculty of Law at Allahabad University) states:
People who are marginalized have relatively little control over their lives,
and the resources available to them. This results in making them
handicapped in delving [sic] contribution to society. A vicious circle is
set up whereby their lack of positive and supportive relationships means
that they are prevented from participating in local life, which in turn leads
to further isolation. (Academike)
54

It is indeed unfortunate that Muslims who constitute 13.4 per cent of

Indias population are considered to be a marginalized community in
India today because in comparison to other communities they have been
deprived of the benefits of education, employment and development. It is
worth noting that understanding the issues leading to the marginalization
of the Muslim women will effectively lead to the amelioration of their
issues.The Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) started in 2007
lays down the following as one of its objectives: To work towards
understanding and ameliorating the marginalization of Muslim
community and Muslim women. (Source: Website page of BMMA)
Another area which significantly contributes to the marginalization of
Muslim women is the housing sector. Disinclination of mainstream
society to sell/rent out property to Muslims inadvertently leads to the
ghettoization of the Muslim Women preventing them from being in the
mainstream. Celebrity Muslims as also the rich and the powerful Muslims
have also encountered difficulties in finding property because of their
religion. The eating habits of the Muslims or their being Non-vegetarian
are hardly used as euphemisms any more. There is a blatant Not for
Muslims gradually seeping into the minds of the majority mainstream
society.
Prejudice against the Muslims works at several levels and is not merely
confined to housing. The NCW Report observes:
It has been observed that there are social prejudices against Muslims at
various levels, which inhibit them from taking full advantage of the
available educational facilities. Such prejudices have been seeped into
textbooks in schools. This not only hardens the attitude of the children of
one community against the other, but also creates a negative impact on
impressionable minds, which is also injurious to the overall objectives of
national integration....Hence, the need to cleanse the textbooks of all such
prejudices (p.51 Ch VII).
55

While the NCW Report refers to serious prejudices, I would like to point
two very basic issues. For every Rani Jhansi taught in schools, is Razia
Sultana also taught? For every Meena, Radha, Archana in the language
books is there Fatima, Sameena, Rehana? The exclusion politics in
syllabus formulation and the cultural insensitivity need to be replaced
with the contribution of Indian Muslim women in various fields of life.
I further wish to state that the prejudice against the Muslims is
ubiquitous. One finds it in cinema and the print and electronic media. The
Muslim is not always depicted in positive terms. It is the religious
fanaticism that is highlighted and the presentation of situation and
character is too often biased and aimed at projecting a backward and
unprogressive image. Munjial and Kaushik state: That Islam treats
women better than many other religious traditions or legal systems, was
never brought out in any media analysis. The only thing projected in the
media was that Islam metes out worse treatment to women
(Mainstream). The television in India also relegates a complete section of
the society to the background. Muslim representation is minimal sand it is
noticed that only Urdu Channels/newspapers mostly cater to the Muslim
needs and issues.
The prevalent sense of prejudice against the Muslims in India has
not been lost on Jaffrelot and Gayer (2012):
Numbering more than 150 million, Muslims constitute the largest
minority in India, yet suffer the most politically and socio-economically.
Forced to contend with severe and persistent prejudice, Indias Muslims
are often targets of violence. (Muslims in Indian Cities)
It is important that the majority mainstream society in India sheds its
fear/prejudice of the Muslims. The Muslims are an integral part of India
and are here not to supplant but to supplement. A complementary move
toward one another will go a long way in nation building and in
mainstreaming the India Muslim women. The Muslim women are
56

prevented by their religion in participating in the development of the

nation. What the leading African author and Professor at Technical
University of Agdal Rabat, Morocco, Fatima Mernissi has to say about
Muslim women in her country can be equally applied to the Muslim
women in India. Mernissi states:
We Muslim women can walk into the modern world with pride, knowing
that the quest for dignity, democracy, for full participation in the political
and social affairs of our country stems from no imported values, but it is a
part of a Muslim tradition. (Women and Islam: 1991)
The quote is used to substantiate that there is nothing in the religion Islam
which prevents Muslim women from mainstreaming. In India, then, it is
imperative to look at the socio-economic causes and consider how best
these can be redressed. It is important that the dialogue is across gender
and across religion so that a consensus emerges. Efforts have been made
at different levels for the empowerment of Muslim women.
Free coaching in tailoring, mehndi-design, embroidery, marriage loans
have been dished out but these did not break the cocoon and the Indian
Muslim women remain outside mainstream. Is tailoring the only
profession a Muslim woman is suitable for? Is marriage her ultimate
goal? Why dont we think of providing computer training? Education
level does matter much here. Anyway, it will only go to encourage the
Muslim women to seek education to be computer savvy. The E factor is
extremely significant these days.

Education,

employability and

Empowerment are now at the click of a mouse or the tap of a finger. I

strongly recommend giving the average Indian Muslim woman access to
the computer and the internet.
Muslim women, despite their marginalisation, did join the mainstream in
different areas at different positions. They too have contributed to the
nation. Of the many Indian Muslim women in the mainstream, to name a
few: Fathima Beevi (first woman justice of Supreme Court who also
57

served as Governor of Tamil Nadu); Sania Mirza and Nikhat Zareen (in
Sports); Sayeda Saiyidain Hameed (first woman Chancellor of MANUU
and former member NCW and Planning Commission); Najma Heptullah
(Union Minister); Syeda Anwara Taimur (first and only lady Chief
Minister of Assam); Mehbooba Mufti (Chief of a Political Party);
Gowhar (winner of Big Boss 7); Ruveda Salam and Sarah Rizvi (IPS) and
countless others.
The Muslim women have never been prevented from mainstreaming by
their religion. Right from the days of the Prophet Muhammad (saw)
women have been in sphere of activity. It is interesting to note here that
the worlds oldest continuously operating degree granting University
recognised as such by UNESCO and the Guinness Book of World
Records is Al Qarawiyyin University which was founded way back in the
9th century by a Muslim woman, Fatimah al-Fihriyah. Closer in 2006,
Anousheh Ansari became the first Muslim woman in Space. Young
Indian Muslim girls are today trained in martial arts as seen in the picture.
Urdu University has also contributed to the mainstreaming of Indian
Muslim women. The mandate of the University is to provide focus on
women education apart from other objectives. As on date there are 18
Indian Muslim women heading at various levels; more than 40 Muslim
women employees with doctorate degrees (several Muslim women have
also been awarded Ph.D and M.Phil degrees by the University); 10
Muslim women with UGC Major/Minor Research Projects; 3 Muslim
women on the Executive Council; 11 Muslim women on the Academic
Council; there are on an average 1/3rd Muslim women students in the
regular mode while in the distance mode the Muslim women nearly equal
the men students and there is adequate representation of women on the
University Committees. (Source: NAAC Self Study Report 2015 and
University Dairy 2015).

58

To sum up, the following solutions are suggested for mainstreaming the
Indian Muslim women: alleviation of poverty; inclusive policies; access
to

education;

empowerment;

legal

awareness;

employment

opportunities; spread of awareness of the contribution of Muslim women

since the time of the Prophet (saw); integrated development; end to the
disparaging mind set of the mainstream society; end to marginalization;
wiping out of xenophobia; end to cultural insensitivity and prevention of
ghettoization. While the wait for a new dawn continues, the Indian
society must take the hijab in its stride and declare We dont care whats
on your head. We care whats in it. No law will successfully abolish a
vice from a society unless it is abolished from the minds of its people.
References:
Hameed, Syeda Saiyidain. 2000. Voice of the Voiceless: Status of
Muslim Women in India.

New Delhi: NCW.

Jaffrelot, Christophe and Laurent Gayer. 2012. Muslims in Indian Cities:

Trajectories of Marginalization. India: Harper Collins.
Mernissi, Fatima. 1991. Women and Islam: An Historical and
Theological Enquiry. Mass: Blackwell.
Mossman, Mary Jane. 2006. The First Women Lawyers: A Comparative
Study of Gender, Law and the Legal Professions. Oxford: Hart
Publishing.
Munjial, Monica and Poonam Kaushik. 2013. Muslim Women and
Minority Rights in India. Mainstream, Vol Li, No 12.
Saksena, Devesh. 2014. The Problems of Marginalised Groups in India.
Academike, Vol 1, Issue 3:21.

59

Economic Empowerment of Excluded Muslim

Women through Islamic Micro Finance: A Case
of Hyderabad
Prof. Farida Siddiqui
Department of Economics,
MANUU
farida.siddiqui@yahoo.com
1.0 Introduction
The formal financial sector is not effectively serving the poor population
in the developing countries due to the failure of financial intermediaries
in fulfilling their basic functions such as providing production credit to
finance Income Generating Activities (IGA), consumption credit to
maintain and expand human productive capacity and schemes for quality
saving for increasing risk-bearing capacity of the poor households. More
over these institutions have failed to promote financial inclusion of the
financially excluded strata of the society too.
India has a sizeable population of Muslims and a large portion falls in the
financially excluded category. Sachar Committee and Raghuram Rajan
Committee have discussed in detail the plight of Muslims and suggested
faith based micro finance as one of the major measures to ensure
inclusive economic growth of Muslim minorities in India. Islamic
microfinance provides an innovative interest-free alternative to
conventional micro-finance primarily based on the profit-sharing
principles of equity based finance. Islamic microfinance institutions have
been proved very successful

in terms of outreach and performance,

reduction in the adverse selection of the borrowers, development of

collateral substitutions and in offering cost-effective approaches to formal
institutions.
60

This paper in this context attempts to argue that interest free micro
finance promotes economic empowerment of excluded Muslim women
which in turn help them to acquire the capabilities and assets so that they
get out of the clutches of poverty.
2.0 Economic Empowerment of Women: The Concept
Empowerment is the process by which the powerless gain greater control
over the circumstances of their lives. It includes control over resources
(physical, human and intellectual) and over ideology ( beliefs, values and
attitudes) ( Batliwala ,1994 ) . It means not only greater extrinsic control
but also a growing intrinsic capability, greater self-confidence and an
inner transmission of one's consciousness that enables one to overcome
external barriers to accessing resources or changing traditional ideology.
Empowerment is about the transformation of power relations between m
en and women at four distinct levels, namely, the household/family, the
community, the market and the state. Such transformation, viewed in
different contexts of power, includes access to and control over material;
and other resources (economic, legal, institutional and social) as well as a
possible and measurable change in self-perception and confidence
(England P., 2000).
61

Economic empowerment increases womens access to economic

resources and opportunities including jobs, financial services, property
and other productive assets, skills development and market information.
Womens economic participation and empowerment are fundamental to
strengthening womens rights and enabling women to have control over
their lives . It is about creating just and equitable societies. The economic
empowerment of women is a prerequisite for sustainable development,
pro-poor growth and the achievement of all the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). Gender equality and empowered women are catalysts for
multiplying development efforts. Investments in gender equality yield the
highest returns of all development investments (OECD, 2010).Women
usually invest a higher proportion of their earnings in their families and
communities than men. On March 20th 2010 World Bank President
Zoellick speaking at the MDG3 Conference in Copenhagen quoted a
study in Brazil which showed that the likelihood of a childs survival
increased by 20% when the mother controlled household income. Hence
increasing the role of women in general and marginalised Muslim women
in particular is part of the solution to the socio-economic problems of the
economy and critical for inclusive growth. However, at the same time,
we need to be mindful that marginalised Muslim women like other
women even in poor living conditions try to earn extra money for
improving economic status of the family by borrowing money through
Islamic Micro Finance and contribute positively for the well being of the
family.
3.0 Islamic Micro Finance and Economic Empowerment
Islam emphasizes ethical, moral, social, and religious factors to promote
inclusion for the good of society as a whole. Islam views exclusion as a
curse to be eradicated through productive efforts unlike some world
philosophies that celebrate asceticism. There is therefore, a convergence

62

between the objectives of Islam and the avowed aims of best practices of
Micro Finance (Obaidullah 2007).
The Islamic approach to economic empowerment is free from riba,
gharar, jahl and darar. Zakah and sadaqah as instruments of charity
occupy a central position in the Islamic scheme of poverty alleviation.
The literal and simple meaning of Zakah is purity. The technical meaning
of the word designates the annual amount in kind or coin which a Muslim
with means must distribute among the rightful beneficiaries. Awqaaf
institutions (charitable trusts) were philanthropically endowed as a
principal-preserving, usufruct-delivering, society-welfare asset. Initially
consisting of donated durable assets (traditionally land and buildings), the
trusts have evolved and are being used as a socio-economic tool for
religion, education and public service provision.
The approach in the present study is to focus on economic empowerment
through Islamic micro finance as a system based on ethical shariah
principles to assess its

impact on

Excluded Muslim Women in

Hyderabad.
3.1 Models of Islamic Microfinance for Economic Empowerment:
Islamic Micro finance provides an innovative interest-free alternative to
conventional micro-finance. It is based primarily on the profit-sharing
principles of equity based finance. It has the potential to convert dead
capital into income generating assets to financially and economically
excluded people of the society. Interest free financial services enable poor
Muslims to use profitable business opportunities and raise earnings.
Conventional financial markets often serve poor people badly. Since
marginalised

Muslims often have insufficient traditional forms of

collateral to offer, they are often excluded from financial markets.

Islamic micro finance is based on the following models (Obaidullah,
2007):
3.1.1 Mission-Based Not-For-Profit Model
63

A mission-based approach to poverty alleviation and development in

Islam involves several not-for-profit mechanisms, such as, sadaqa, zakah,
awqaf and qard-hasan. The term sadaqa implies charity. Sadaqa - when
prescribed and compulsory on Muslims - refers to zakah. When benefits
from sadaqa are expected to continuously flow over future, it is called
sadaqa jaria (perpetual sadaqa) and involves waqf or endowment of
land, property and physical assets for charitable purposes. Qard hasan
implies loans that are free from any benefit or return to the lender and is
more commonly referred to as interest-free loan (The lender expects a
reward only from God).
This mission based non-profit model of microfinance combines the three
major modes of Islamic microfinance zakah, awqaf and qard hasan into
one.
3.1.2 Market-Based For-Profit Modes
Islamic approach to poverty alleviation is a composite of a mission based
and market-based interventions. Microfinance in Islam need not be
restricted to not-for-profit modes alone. Islam permits for-profit trade and
creation of wealth. In terms of the earlier model of microfinance that uses
not for-profit modes only, it is easy to see that the poor who fall into
economically active category may be provided financing using forprofit modes as well. The members of such groups do not belong to the
extremely poor or the destitute category and are in a position to create
wealth for themselves, for the Islamic Microfinance Institution and for
the society. For-profit financing provides financial sustainability to
Islamic Microfinance Institutions.
a. Microfinance Services:
The poor need a range of microfinance services, such as, micro-savings,
micro-credit, micro-equity, micro-takaful and micro-remittance. In the
context of mainstream Islamic finance, we come across a host of forprofit modes through which such services may be provided to the poor.

64

b. Micro-Savings
Micro-savings is a critical financial service for poor and excluded
households. Poor people want secure, convenient deposit services that
allow for small balances and transactions and offer easy access to their
funds. These deposits that may take the form of wadiyya, qard-hasan and
mudaraba: Deposits in the form of wadiyya, qard hasan and mudaraba
have their parallel in savings, current and time deposits respectively and
are a regular source of funds for Islamic microfinance institutions,
especially those in South-East Asia.Wadia is an Islamic deposit. Under
this mechanism, the deposits are held as amana or in trust and utilized by
the microfinance institution at its own risk.
c.

Micro-Credit Micro Credit is Islamic alternative to interestbased conventional loan which is trade based or lease-based that
permits the ownership and/or use of commodities or physical
assets needed for productive enterprise while deferring the
payments to future time periods. There are several such products
developed by mainstream Islamic financial institutions involving
murabaha, bai-muajjal, ijara, bai-salam, bai-istisna, bai-istijrar
etc. Bai muajjal is a sale where payment of price is deferred to a
future date. Often it includes features of a murabaha, which
implies a sale on a cost-plus basis. Bai muajjal simply implies
deferment of payment of price irrespective of whether the cost
and mark-up are known to parties or not. In a murabaha, both
parties to the transaction must know the cost and the profit or
mark-up. Ijara in simple terms implies leasing or hiring of a
physical asset for a known time period. Bai-salam is a deferred
delivery contract. It is essentially a forward agreement where
delivery occurs at a future date in exchange for spot payment of
price. Bai-Istisna is a contract of manufacture. A seller under an
istisna agreement undertakes to develop or manufacture a
commodity with clear specifications for an agreed price and
deliver after an agreed period of time. Bai-Istijrar takes place
when the buyer purchases different quantities of a given
commodity from a single seller over a period of time. In other
words, the seller delivers the total quantity of commodity
65

d.

purchased in installments. This mode is ideal for microfinance

where micro-entrepreneurs often buy their raw materials and
inputs in small quantities from the same vendor over extended
periods.
Micro-Equity The model based on various partnership or equity
modes is another model of riba free microfinance. Two classical
modes commonly discussed in this context are mudaraba- a
combination of entrepreneurship and capital and musharaka- a
partnership in entrepreneurship and capital. These equity-based
products are unique to Islamic microfinance and in some sense,
account for its superiority over conventional microfinance on
grounds of ethics and efficiency.

3.1.3 A Composite Model of Islamic Microfinance

A composite model of Islamic microfinance is a combination of Islamic
non-profit model and for-profit model. The above mentioned model may
be described in terms of the following activities:

Riba-free Microfinance Institution creates a Zakah Fund with

contribution from muzakki;

Program facilitates Waqf of physical assets as well as monetary

assets. The physical assets are used to facilitate education and
skills training. The monetary assets may be in the form of a cash
waqf, or simply as ordinary sadaqa;

After identifying the financially excluded people carefully ,the

parts of zakah funds are directed towards meeting their basic
necessities as grant.

Program provides skills training to economically excluded,

utilizing community-held physical assets under waqf;

Beneficiaries graduate with improved skills and managerial

acumen;

Beneficiaries are formed into groups with mutual guarantee

under the concept of kafala

66

Financing is provided using a combination of for-profit debtbased modes, such as, bai-muajjal, ijara, salam, istisna or isijrar
or equity based modes, such as, mudaraba or musharaka or
declining musharaka;

Group members pay back their debt; and/or perform and meet
the expectations of equity providers and, in turn, are provided
higher levels of financing;

Guarantee against default by the group is provided by the Zakah

Fund and actual defaulting accounts are paid off with zakah
funds;

Group members are encouraged to save under appropriate micro

savings schemes;

Groups members are encouraged to form a Takaful Fund to

provide

micro-insurance

against

unforeseen

risks

and

uncertainties resulting in loss of livelihood, sickness and so on.

The challenge of reducing poverty and improving living conditions for
the poor population of India in general and Muslims in particular is a
formidable one. The betterment of poor people requires an effort that
spans all sectors of the economy and may not be easy to achieve through
economic growth alone. Improved access to financial services helps poor
people by enabling payment transactions then bring them into the formal
sector. Riba free financial services enable poor Muslims to use profitable
business opportunities and raise earnings. Conventional financial
markets often serve poor people badly as they

always fear while

extending credit facilities to the poor that loans would not be repaid .As a
result poor borrowers face high transaction costs when they sought loans
from formal financial institutions. The costs included time, travel and
paperwork involved in obtaining credit.
67

The Islamic approach to economic empowerment through is to provide

an innovative interest-free alternative to conventional micro-finance. It is
free from interest. Zakah and sadaqah are other instruments of poverty
alleviation(Obaidullah,2007). The present study focuses on the inclusive
role of Shariah based micro finance in the economic empowerment poor
marginalised Muslim women living on the brim of Hyderabadi society.
4.0 Frame Work of the Study
Muslims as a community in India have been the victims of multidimensional exclusion since independence. The Census Report (2001),
Sachchar Committees Report (2006) and India Human Development
Report (2011) have also revealed that Muslims in the country are a
socially, economically and educationally excluded community. A
significant percentage of Muslim population in India is trapped in the
vicious circle of poverty too. According to National Council of Applied
Economic Research three out of ten Muslims were below the poverty line
in 2004-05. Since poverty causes high level of deficit in education and
employment, Muslims as a result are being confronted with the problem
of greater deficit in education and employment as compared to any other
religious group in India. They are also lagging behind even historically
marginalised SCs and STs (GOI, 2006a). In a more than sixty five years
old democracy of Independent India it is now necessary to provide access
to and provision of opportunities in education and employment to the
Muslim community through Micro Finance. In Indian context Shariah
based Micro Finance Institutions by providing interest free loans to the
excluded, marginalised and poor Muslims not only give an alternative to
the needy but also promote policies that are inclusionary in nature.
4.1 Problem Statement
The development of microfinance programs gained a worldwide
acceptance and popularity since 1980s in providing financial services to
the poor. It is one way of the antipoverty instrument of the development
68

programs. Numerous institutions in many parts of the developing world

have been providing micro-credit and recovering their loans. The
Grameen Bank's group lending methodology became widely adopted
by institutions in many parts of the world (Robinson, 2001). Relative to
the experience of other developing countries, microfinance development
in its institutionalized form is increasingly becoming popular in all the
Less Developed Countries . Lack of financial resources is one of the
major problems facing poor households. Formal financial institutions
are inefficient and inaccessible in providing credit facilities to the poor.
Thus, developing an alternative mechanism for providing financial
services to the poor households became critical. In realizing this, Islamic
welfare Society has started providing Shariah based micro finance by
establishing riba-free microfinance institutions.
Interest free Microfinance became one of the important tools of reaching
the poor who had very limited access to the formal financial sector. The
main objective of almost all La-Riba microfinance institutions is to
deliver financial services to the poor.
There is a high-unmet demand. Islamic welfare Society has shown a
promising growth in its operation and outreach. However, it is still
providing financial services to a very limited number of clients. These
types of market assessments may help Shariah Based Micro
Finances to collect information, which make them financially and
operationally sustainable. It also assists Shariah Based Micro Finance
to build strong capacity to meet the fast growing demand of credit by the
poor.
This study attempts to assess the impact of Islamic microfinance
intervention on Muslim women by taking a case study of Islamic welfare
Society. The justification of selecting Islamic Welfare Society, as a case
study is that, it focused on the marginalized poor Muslims especially

69

Muslim women, and its geographic coverage included both Charminar

and Mallepally clients.
4.2 Objectives of the Study
The general objective of this study is to assess the impact of La-Riba
microfinance services on poverty reduction at household and enterprise
levels by increasing income, creating job opportunity and enhancing
empowerment. The Specific objectives are as under:
1.

To study the role of Islamic Micro finance agencies in

the economic empowerment of these economically
excluded Muslim women so as to bring them get out
of the vicious circle of poverty.

2.

To analyze various business and trade activities of the citys

poor Muslim women who have been deprived due to the lack
of resources

3.

To review the experience of poor Muslim women in relation to

Shariah based micro finance.

4.3 Hypothesis
In order to conduct the impact assessment of Islamic micro finance
on economic empowerment, the following two hypotheses are
developed:
1. The provision of Shariah based Microfinance has a positive
impact on clients at

Enterprise Levels:

a.

Increasing profit

b.

Increasing production

c.

Increasing fund availability

d.

Increasing employment opportunity

2. The provision of Shariah based Microfinance has a positive

impact on clients at the Household Level:
a.

70

Increasing income

b.

Increasing consumption

c.

Increasing housing ownership and improvements

d.

Increasing assets ownership

e.

Increasing food security

f.

Increasing access to education and health care

g.

Increasing savings

h.

Enhancing empowerment

4.4 Significance of the Study

Institutional Shariah based Microfinance is lately emerging phenomenon
which had not been given due attention in development paradigm,
particularly in India. As a result, very limited studies have been
undertaken in this area. The document in the Association of Indian
Microfinance Institution revealed that Indian microfinance institutions are
facing a number of challenges. Among these, lack of research to
understand clients' needs is a vital problem. This case study has
attempted to address the lacuna of research on the impact of micro
financing programs at enterprise and household levels and its role in
combating poverty. This study will contribute in filling the information
gap by assessing the socio- economic impact of Islamic welfare
Society operations in Hyderabad region at a household and enterprise
level. It also adds a body of knowledge in the area.
4.5 Limitation of the Study
This study is limited to the households who are participating in Islamic
welfare Society Micro financing program. It only focuses on one
Shariah Based Micro Finance Institutions

and very limited sample

size. Therefore, it may not have a strong scientific justification and

representativeness to generalize about the impact of Shariah Based
Micro Finances Institutions s on reducing poverty in the entire country.
71

The other limitation of the study is time and financial constraint. Because
the study is time and finance bounded as compared to the wideness and
intensiveness of the work. There is also the problem of getting reliable
information from respondents. Due to absence of a baseline survey
before the implementation of the program, respondents may not recall
the situations before taking loans properly.
Despite the above limitations, the random samples selected from the clients
of Islamic welfare Society are considered sufficient enough to represent the
marginalised Muslims of Hyderabad. It is believed that, the random samples
helps to make reasonable analysis and conclusion on assessing the impact of
microfinance services on poverty reduction in both Charminar and
Mallepally areas.
4.6 Organization of the Study
This research paper is organized into seven sections. The first ,second and
third sections deal with background, the concepts of economic empowerment
and Islamic micro finance .The fourth section deals with framework of the
study such as statement of the problem, objectives of the study, hypotheses,
significance, limitation and conceptual framework of the study. Whereas
section five describes the research methodologies applied in the study.
Section six is focused on the major findings of the study. Section seven is
the conclusion and recommendation part of the study.
4.7 Field of the Study
Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhra Pradesh, is the field for this
study. This city is the fifth largest city in India with a history of ancient
civilisation and culture. Hyderabad is nearly 400 years old and is noted
for its natural beauty, mosques and minarets, bazaars and bridges, hills
and lakes. It is perched on the top of the Deccan Plateau, 1776 ft., above
sea level, and sprawls over an area of 100 Sq. miles. A multitude of
influences have shaped the character of the city. Its palaces and buildings,
72

houses and tenements, gardens and streets have a history and an

architectural individuality of their own, which makes Hyderabad a city of
enchantment.
Hyderabad, under the Nizam's, was the largest princely state in India.
Area wise it was as big as England and Scotland put together. The State
had its own currency, mint, railways, and postal system. There was no
income tax. Soon after India gained independence, Hyderabad State
merged with the Union of India. On November 1, 1956 the map of India
was redrawn into linguistic states, and Hyderabad became the capital of
Andhra Pradesh.
An exception in south India, the city houses a large size of Urdu speaking
Muslim community. However, it is believed to be 40% of the
Hyderabads population against 12% of the Indian average. Apart from
being one of the fast-growing IT centres, Hyderabad has a big divide in
the population. While some areas concentrate luxurious houses and
commercial buildings, the so called old city has several bastis
(slums) and several poor communities. In this part of the city, there is a
big shortage of health facilities, water and sanitation, infrastructure.
Major chunk of excluded marginalised Muslim population lives in this
part of the city. The present study is based on this very part of the citycalled as the old city.
5.0 Research Methodology
5.1 Data Collection
The study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data
collected from Islamic Welfare Society operating in the Old city of
Hyderabad. The Primary data is collected from old citys two branches
of Islamic Welfare Society - Mallepally and Charminar .The primary
sources of data is obtained from direct observation, structured and
unstructured

questionnaires,

focus

group

discussions

and
73

interviewing the concerned parties like management staff and employees

of Islamic welfare Society at the main office and at each branch.
Direct observation is made in Mallepally and Charminar branches. This
method helped the researcher to observe the real impact of Islamic
welfare Societys intervention on poor clients. Structured questionnaires
were used to collect information from households on various aspects of
impact dimensions. Before applying it, the questionnaire was tested for its
validity by using pilot survey. Two Field investigators and

staff

members were involved in pilot testing. The questionnaire was refined

and finalized after incorporating the inputs of the pilot survey.
The interviews were administered on randomly selected active clients and
incoming clients to answer questions regarding their situation before they
took the loan based on their memory and after taking the loan. The
questionnaire was prepared in English language. The respondents
should know and told about the research objectives in the language,
which they can understand. Most respondents in the survey speak Urdu.
Therefore, the questionnaire was translated into Urdu. This enabled the
enumerators and respondents to easily understand the questions,
express their ideas comfortably and reduce communication barriers. The
interview enabled the researcher to capture and ascertain both
subjective and objective facts. Thus, face-to-face interview were
important in order to increase probability of response rate and
flexibility in extracting more qualitative and quantitative information.
Three supervisors and five enumerators were trained to collect relevant
data from sample households and enterprises. A training manual

was

prepared to train enumerators. The enumerators were given a one-day

training on the training manual, which focused on the objectives of the
study on how to approach a respondent, how to record the responses, and
on detailed contents of the questionnaire.

74

Conducting focus group discussions was important to assess the

satisfaction or dissatisfaction of clients in service provision and
disclose

their

problems,

comments

and

provide

some

recommendations. This also strengthened the reliability of the finding.

The focus group discussions were conducted in both Mallepally and
Charminar households. A total of five focus group discussions, of which,
two in Charminar and the three in Mallepally

areas were conducted.

Each group discussion had seven to ten participants. To reduce the risk
of biasedness, male and female clients had separate group discussions.
Among five group discussions one female and two male group
discussions were conducted in Charminar areas and the remaining one
female and one male group discussions were conducted in Mallepally
areas.
Discussions with key informants such as some clients of Islamic welfare
Society, employees and branch managers and Islamic welfare Society
officials were conducted to collect qualitative information.
Secondary data were obtained from documents, reports, journals,
proceedings, bulletins, Internet, periodicals, various books and other
relevant materials.
5.2 Sample Design
A case study design is used in the study as the Case study design helps
to examine the detailed features of the institution. The study has used
two groups of samples namely, experimental group and control group.
Control group was used to avoid the problem of intervening variables
(variables that are affecting the output of the research other than
independent variables). This control group is randomly selected from the
list of people who are in the training phase, which would be clients of the
Islamic welfare Society n the near future or incoming clients.
Experimental groups are randomly selected from the list of Islamic
welfare Society active clients and ex-clients (dropouts). The sample
75

frame of the study is the entire people found in the list of Islamic welfare
Society Shariah based microfinance institution.
Probability sampling technique or simple random sampling is used in
the study. Probability sampling ensures sampling units a known, nonzero and equal chance of being included and hence representativeness.
In this technique sampling units are stratified depending on the branch
category or grouping of the institution. Determining the appropriate
sample size is important in research undertaking. Thus, sample size
depends on the total number of population, the level of confidence and
the maximum deviation from true population that can be tolerated in the
study. Depending on this, there are various sample size estimation
methods. Among these the method or model used to determine the
desired sample size with the population of above 10,000 and sample size
of above 30 is formulated as:
n = z 2pq d2
where:
n = sample size (when population is greater than 10,000)
z = the standard normal deviation usually set at 1.96 which corresponds to
the 95 percent confidence interval
p = proportion in the target population estimated to have a particular
characteristics
q=l -p
d = degree of accuracy usually set at 0.05 or occasionally at 0.01.
Islamic welfare Society has branch offices operating in both Charminar
and Mallepally Fort areas. Two stage sample design procedures were
employed for the survey. The first stage is the selection of sample
branches of the Islamic welfare Society. Both the branches are
purposefully selected as they lie in the Old city area and have many
similar characteristics of marginalised muslim community. The second
stage is selection of sample respondents from the selected branches.
76

5.3 Sample Size

The study is focused on women clients from each area equally. To
manage the research within the given time and limited budget, a total of
150 samples were selected using random sampling. Among these
samples, only women clients were selected for the study.75 samples were
selected from each branch i.e. Mallepally and Golconda Fort. From the
total sample size, 100 samples were used as experimental group and 50
were used as control group. Experimental groups were composed of
active clients (clients in the pipeline) and ex-clients (dropouts), while
control groups were composed of clients in the training or incoming
clients (clients ready to get service from Islamic Welfare Society in the
near future but not in the pipe line at present). Among 150 samples, 140
were valid. From these valid respondents 91 were experimental groups and
49 were control groups. Although enumerators attempting to convince
respondents to fill the questionnaire, some of them were not willing to
respond and the rest were not found in the area during survey.
5.4 Data analysis
The method of analysis used in the study is descriptive statistics. It
includes the comparison of income, housing condition, nutrition, health,
education, , business growth and employment opportunities between
active clients and incoming clients in both Charminar and Mallepally
areas. Percentages and central tendency measurements were also used to
analyze the data. SPSS, the latest version, was used to process the raw
data.
6.0 Findings of the Study
6.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
77

The distribution of respondents in Table 3 reveals that from the total

140 valid respondents 83 (60%) are active clients, 7 (5%) are exclients or dropouts, and 46 (35%) are incoming clients. From the
total samples more than 90% provided useful information. 42.2% of
the sample (active clients) is from Charminar and 57.8% are from
Mallepally clients. However, 85.7% and 73.9% of respondents from exclients and incoming clients respectively are Charminar dwellers.
Location

Table 3: Respondents Location

Ex-clients(n=7)
Active
Clients(n=83)
Percent
Percent

Incoming
clients(n=
46)
Percent

Charminar
Mallepally
Total

42.2
57.8
100

73.9
26.1
100

85.7
14.3
100

The sample survey result also indicates that an average of 4, 3.6, and
3.9 children for active clients, ex- clients and incoming clients
respectively. However, Mallepallyclients have relatively more children
than Charminar clients. All sample clients both in Charminar and
Mallepallyarea have below the national average children size.
With regarding to the number of dependents, experimental groups
have less number of dependents than control groups on the average
after taking loans. Furthermore, the number of dependents is reduced
after taking the loan in experimental groups.

78

Table 4 gives the detailed profiles of the respondents in the study. The
sample is composed of active clients, ex-clients and incoming clients. In
ex-clients and incoming clients, the majority of respondents are
females. In active and incoming client respondents, the majority are
male-headed households (57.1% and 51% respectively) while 57.1% of
the ex-clients are female-headed households. About 82.1% and 85.7%
of active clients and ex-clients who filled the questionnaire are
household heads.
The table reveals that average household size of experimental groups is
more or less similar (5 and 4.5) before and after taking the loan. While
the average household size of control group (incoming clients) is
slightly greater (5.9) than the experimental groups category. The average
household size of Charminar clients is slightly higher than the
household size of Mallepally clients before and after taking the loan in
experimental groups. But the reverse is true in control group category.
Table 4: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents
Active clients (n=84)
Ex-clients (n=7)
Incoming clients (n=49)
Charmi
nar
Averag
e

Mallepall
y
Average

Age

35.4

No. of
children

3.7

Grand

Mallepal
ly
Average

Gra
nd
Ave
rage

Charm
inar
Avera
ge

Mallepal
ly
Average

Grand

Avera
ge

Charmi
nar
Averag
e

37.8

36.6

29

45

37

31

32.7

31.8

4.4

2.8

3.4

3.6

4.2

3.9

5.1

5.1

5.1

4.5

5.8

5.9

5.2

4.9

5.1

4.5

Averag
e

Household size:
Before
Loan
After
loan

No. of dependents

79

Before
Loan
After
Loan

3.6

3.6

3.3

3.7

3.9

3.8

3.3

3.8

3.5

2.3

3.2

6.2 Empowerment of Women

This study reveals that Islamic Microfinance intervention is leading to
women empowerment by increasing their income and their control
over that household resource (including their own income), enhancing
their knowledge and skills in production and trade, and increasing their
participation in household decision making.
Table: 5 Empowerment of Women in Decision Making (valid
n=38)
Indicators

Responses

Charminar

Any c re dit in your name

after marriage

Yes

83.3

85.1

84.2

No
No answer

5.6
11.1

15
-

10.5
5.3

Are you a decision maker to

take the credit

Husband and I

55.6

45

50

Mostly I

2.6

Only I

16.7

35

26.3

No answer

27.8

15

21

Husband and I

55.6

45

50

Mostly I

11.1

7.9

Only I

22.2

40

31.9

No answer

11.1

10

10.5

Husband and you

50

45

47.4

Mostly I

5.6

2.6

Only I

27.8

45

36.8

No answer

16.7

10

13.2

Yes

89. 5

94.7

92.1

No answer

10.5

5.3

7.9

90

89.5

Are you a decision maker on the

usage of loans

Are you a decision maker on the

use of business profit

Do your loan experience :

Mallepally

Total

dd confidence in your

ecision making

Highly confident
our level of self
confidence

80

No confidence

5.6

2.6

No answer

5.6

10

7.9

Table 5 indicates that out of the total respondents the majority of women
(85%) took loans after they got marriage. Among these, Mallepally clients
are slightly higher than charminar clients in taking loans after marriage.
About 50 percent of respondents reported that, the decision to take the
loan is jointly made by the husband and wife. Joint decision-making is
better in charminar household (55.6%) than Mallepally households (45
%). Besides, 26.3 % of the respondents reported that only the wife makes
the decision on the loan. About 50% of respondents indicated that the
decision to use the loan and 47.4% to use the business profit is jointly
made by the husband and wife, while only wife makes 31.9% of loan
usage and 36.8% of business profit decision. No one reported that
husband as the only decision maker on the loans in the household both
in Charminar and Mallepally households. This indicates that women
have at least equal or more power than their husbands in the decisions on
the loan. Out of the total sample respondents, more than 92 %
confirmed that the participation in Islamic Welfare Society program
raised their confidence in decision-making. Similarly about 90 % of
respondents reported that they have higher level of self-confidence after
taking the loan. The findings of the study revealed that Islamic Welfare
Society program enhanced women's participation in decision-making and
increases their self-confidence. However, after the loans from Ar Rehma
Foundation

, about 27.3 % of the respondents confirmed that they hired

additional workers in their enterprises other than their family members.

Moreover, about 54.5 % of the respondents indicated that their enterprises
increased job opportunities for the community. It is clearly indicated that
about 94.7 % (large majority) of the households improved their enterprise
capacity after taking loans. Similarly 86.1 % and 93.8 % of respondents
confirmed that their enterprises' production and profit have increased after
they borrowed money from Ar Rehma Foundation

respectively. In

conclusion, the sample survey results reveal that Ar Rehma Foundation

81

program has a significant positive impact at enterprise level by

improving business, employing more, increasing production and
increasing net profit.
6.3 Impact of Islamic Micro Finance at the Household Level
It is expected that Muslim women can benefit from microfinance program
by improving access to credit which helps them to expand their business.
Through this expansion enterprises can increase production, profit and create
job opportunities to their households and the community. Table 6 shows the
impact of Islamic Welfare Society program on enterprises using impact
indicators such as job opportunity, production process and profit before and
after taking loans. Most of the respondents (63 %) reported that members of
the household ran their enterprises, where as 37 % responded that they have
co-workers to help them in running the business before the loan. Among these
co-workers, about 64.5 % were household members and 22.6 % were hired
laborers.
Indicators

Table 6: Impact on Women Entrepreneurs (valid n=84)

Responses
Percent

Any co-workers in your business to

help you before loan

Relation of co-workers

Hired additional laborer after the

loan

Your business increase job

opportunity after loan

82

Yes

37

No

63

Family
member

64.5

Hired
laborer
Others

22.6
13

Yes

27.3

No

72.7

Yes

54.5

No

45.5

Business improvement after loan

Your business production after loan

Your business profit after loan

Yes

94.7

No

5.3

No change

13.9

Increased

86.1

Decreased

2.7

No change

18.5

Increased

93.8

6.3.1 Non-financial services

Microfinance institutions (MFIs), in addition to their financial
products, also provide non-financial services such as vocational
training, technical assistance, agricultural or health education Like
many other development instruments, microfinance has generated
various debates about its capacity to fight poverty (Flore & Serres).
Many practitioners argue that microfinance per se needs to be
combined with other actions to effectively improve the living
conditions of its beneficiaries. Based on this principle, a number of
microfinance institutions (MFIs) with a strong pro-poor positioning
promoted the idea of comprehensive microfinance services
(Hickson, 1999). Under this approach, MFIs provide beneficiaries
with financial services (credit, savings, insurance) along with nonfinancial services (primarily education, but also health services,
practical training, and technical assistance). These aim at improving
the borrowers capacities to develop sustainable income generating
activities.
6.3.2 Training

83

Training is one of the non-financial services provided by Ar Rehma

Foundation. Table 7 indicates the trainings delivered to the active
women clients of Ar Rehma Foundation. About 91.7 % of women
received training, while about 7 % didn't. The trainings were
focused on loan utilization, skill development and savings. Most
of the clients (52.4 %) received training on loan utilization. Most
of the clients were trained not less than three times. During the
focus group discussions, most of the participants reported that the
training delivered by Islamic Welfare Societyis satisfactory.
Activities

Table 7: Training of Clients (valid n=84)

Indicators
Percent

Training taken

Type of training
taken

Number of trainings
taken

Yes

91.7

No

7.1

No answer

1.2

loan utilization

52.4

Skill development

26.2

saving

11.9

No answer

9.5

Once

17.9

Twice

11.9

Three times

28.6

More than 3 times

33.3

No answer

8.3

6.3.3 Monitoring and Supervision

84

Supervision is an important element in improving the performance

of microfinance institutions and to assess the demand and success
of clients. Regular monitoring and supervision of loan utilization is
expected to help in reducing diversion of loans towards
unintended

activities.

Sample

clients

are

asked

whether

monitoring and supervision is useful, regular and satisfactory.

As per the results in table 8, about 92.9 % of the women
reported that Islamic Welfare Societys staffs supervised them to
assess the use of loans, whether they used their loan to the intended
purpose or not and ensure repayment of loans in accordance with
the schedule. About 27.4 % of the clients were been supervised
more than three times in one loan cycle. Moreover, about 23.8 %
were supervised conditionally i.e. when supervision was necessary.
Most of the clients (79.8 %) accept the supervision of Islamic
Welfare Society as satisfactory. Furthermore, participants of the
focus group discussions were satisfied with supervision where they
received advices to help them to achieve better success and
encouraged them to repay the loan on time. In one group
discussion, participants reported "we sometimes consider the
institution as 'mother ". However, they suggest that more
improvement is needed in monitoring and supervision, which will
encourage clients to increase their performance and reduce defaults.
Table 8: Supervision of clients (valid n=84)
Response
Percent
Activities
Any supervision on
loan utilization and
repayment

Quality of supervision

Yes

92.9

No

4.8

No answer

2.4

Satisfactory

79.8
85

Number of
supervision per one
loan Cycle

Not satisfactory

8.3

No answer

11.9

None

3.6

Once

19

Twice

4.8

Three times

16.7

More than 3 times

27.4

Conditionally

23.8

No answer

4.8

6.4 Impact of Islamic Micro Finance at the Household Level

It is expected that enterprises can benefit from microfinance program
by improving access to their capital, which helps them to expand their
business. Through this expansion enterprises can increase production,
profit and create job opportunities to their households and the
community. Table 9 shows the impact of Islamic Welfare Society
program on enterprises using impact indicators such as job opportunity,
production process and profit before and after taking loans. Most of the
respondents (63 %) reported that members of the household ran their
enterprises, where as 37 % responded that they have co-workers to help
them in running the business before the loan. Among these co-workers,
about 64.5 % were household members and 22.6 % were hired laborers.
Table 9: Impact on Enterprises (valid n=84)
Indicators

Responses

Pe

Any co-workers in your business

Yes

rce
37
nt

86

to help you before loan

No

63

Relation of co-workers

Family member

64.

Hired laborer

5
22.

Others

613

Hired additional laborer after the

loan

Yes

27.

No

3
72.

Your business increase job

opportunity after loan

Yes

7
54.

No

5
45.

Business improvement after loan

Yes

5
94.

No

7
5.3

Your business production after

loan

No change

13.

Increased

986.

Your business profit after loan

Decreased

1
2.7

No change

18.

Increased

593.
8

7.0 Conclusion and Recommendations

7.1. Conclusion
This study highlights that Islamic Welfare Societies (IWSs) by providing
interest free Shariah based Micro finance to the needy women; played a
crucial role in enhancing empowerment and improving the livelihood of
the marginalised Muslim women living in the old city of Hyderabad. The
main objective of all Islamic Welfare Societies is to provide financial as
well as non-financial

services to the socio-economically excluded

Muslims of the city. The rationale of these societies is to provide

Shariah based Microfinance to the targeted group the marginalised
87

Muslims as well as their impact on livelihoods, savings, income and

employment.
The objective of this case study of Islamic welfare Societies is to
assess the impact of microfinance on the socio-economic inclusion of
poverty stricken Muslims. The study shows that IWSs are promoting
inclusion of marginalised Muslim women of Hyderabad by positively
effecting them both at household and enterprise levels. The results of
the study are summarized as below:
1.

Income: The findings revealed that the average monthly income

of most women clients rose after they took loans from Islamic
Welfare Society. Similarly more than 65 % of women confirmed
that the overall household income increased due to Islamic
Welfare Societies program. However, the impact is more
pronounced

in

Mallepally

households

than

Charminar

households. The average monthly expenditure of active clients

shifted from the lower category to the next higher category
after joining Islamic Welfare Society program. The average
monthly expenditure of active clients was higher than the
incoming clients. Active clients have got more chance of
improving their diet than incoming clients. Almost half of
active clients indicated that their diet condition have improved
due to Islamic Welfare Society interventions. About 91.7 % of
active women reduced shocks from food shortage compared to
61.2 % of incoming clients in the last 12 months.
2.

Living condition of Households: Microfinance provision

enables muslim women borrowers to spend on improved living
condition of households.

3.

Access to Health and Education: However, Islamic Welfare

Society's intervention did not show a positive impact on

88

improving access to education and medical facilities to Muslim

women.
4.

Impact on Enterprise expansion: Islamic Welfare Society

program has a positive impact on enterprise expansion,
increasing job opportunities of the women . More than half of
respondents confirmed that their enterprise expansion increased
employment

opportunities

for

their

families

and

the

community. Large majority of respondents stated that their

enterprise capacity has improved due to Islamic Welfare
Societies interventions. Similarly more than 73 % of women
reported that their enterprises have been increased production
and net profit after they have received loans from Islamic
Welfare Society.
5.

Saving: Most of respondents indicated that their overall saving

has been increased as a result their saving habits got developed.
Furthermore, Islamic Welfare Societys program enhances
empowerment of women. Most respondents expressed that they
have equal power in households' decision making. Decisions
on the loan, loan usage and business profit is taken jointly by
the wife and the husband. About 92 % of respondents reported
that Islamic Welfare Societys program has built their
confidence in decision-making.

7.2 Recommendations
Although Islamic Welfare Societies have a positive impact on the socioeconomic inclusion of the marginalised Muslims of Hyderabad city yet
following recommendations are presented for the socio-economic
inclusion of Muslim women:
1.

The investigation indicates that although Islamic Welfare

Societies are providing training to women yet more training
89

is required as it is an important tool for capacity building.

2.

Poor women borrowers are not aware of the modern

technology. They depend much on the traditional method of
production. Therefore, provision should be made to provide
demand-led and effective training on different aspects of
productive activities, credit management, environmental
pollution, nutrition and health care so that they become
more productive and take part in the development process
of the country.

3.

The study showed that most of the women clients utilized

the money that they borrowed in the form of the loan from
Islamic Welfare Society and spent their borrowed money on
income generating activities. However there are some who
utilised their money on marriages and other social
ceremonies. Therefore, proper monitoring and supervision
is required so that they use their money in to income
generating activities only.

4.

Information is a critical factor for any sound decision

making process. Incoming women clients stated that one of
the common reasons for not joining Islamic Welfare Society
program was lack of information about Islamic Welfare
Society. Thus, establishing advocacy and advertising
mechanism helps the institution to expand its outreach and
give an opportunity for possible potential beneficiaries.

The sum and substance is that Islamic Microfinance intervention is

economically empowering Muslim women by having positive impact on
both their household and enterprise levels. In order to help these poor
and deprived Muslim women Islamic welfare Societies have evolved
their own design and policies. They have also been successful in terms of

90

outreach, performance, reduction in the adverse selection of the

borrowers, and in offering cost-effective approaches.This implies that
Islamic Welfare Societies play a significant role in the socio-economic
empowerment of excluded Muslim women. But they still need to go a
long way in designing their lending policies and strategies in such a way
that the poor financially excluded Muslim women are transformed into
financially included productive agents who not only participate but also
contribute positively to the process of socio-economic development of
the country in a bigger way. And then only they will be economically
empowered in real sense.
References
Akhtar, M. R, (1996). Practice and Prospects of Musharaka Financing for
Small Enterprises in

Pakistan. Journal of Islamic Banking and

Finance.
Akhtar, M R, (1997). Partnership Financing of Microenterprises.
International Journal of Social

Economics.

Batliwala, S, (1995). Education for Women's Empowerment. ASPBAE

Position Paper for the
Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, New Delhi, Asia-South
Pacific Bureau Of Adult Education.
England, P ,(2000), Conceptualizing Womens Empowerment In
Countries of The North, In

Harriet Presser

Eds. Womens Empowerment And Demographic

New

And

Gita

Sen,

Processes.

York: Oxford.

Flores, I L & Serres P, (2009). Microfinance and Non-Financial Services:

An Impossible
6.

Marriage?

Private Sector Development, 3(3), 191

GOI (Government of India), (2000) .Socio-Economic Survey, 55th

Round: July 1999 June 2000, Household Schedule 1.0: Consumer
Expenditure, National Sample Survey

Organisation, New Delhi.

GOI (Government of India), (2001) National Human Development

Report, Planning Commission, New Delhi.
GOI (Government of India), (2006a) Social, Economic And Educational
Status of The Muslim

Community In India: A Report of The Prime

Ministers High Level Committee (Chaired By Justice Rajinder Sachar),

New Delhi.
GOI (Government of India), (2006b). Educational Status of the Muslim
Community of India: A

Report, New Delhi.

GOI (Government of India) ,(2007). Report of The National Commission

for Religious And

Linguistic Minorities, (Chaired By Justice

Rangnath Mishra) Ministry of Minority

Affairs, N Delhi.

GOI (Government of India) ,(2011). Indian Human Development Report,

Institute Of Applied

Manpower Research, Planning Commission

,Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

Haq, M, (1997). Human Development in South Asia, Oxford University
Press Karachi.
Hulme, D (2009). Impact Assessment Methodologies for Microfinance:
Theory, Experience and

Better

Practice, IN

HULME

&

THANKOM (EDS), MICROFINANCE: A READER, ROUTLEDGE,

NEW

YORK

Hickson, (1999). Reaching Extreme Poverty: Financial Services for the

Very Poor, Working

Paper,

Office for Development Studies, UN

Development Programme.
Obaidullah, Mohammed, (2007). Islam, Poverty and Micro Finance "Best
Practices. IRTI.

92

OECD (2010), Accelerating Progress towards the MDGs through ProPoor Growth: Policy

Messages from the DAC Network on Poverty

Reduction, OECD, Paris

Contract Marriages A study in Hyderabad

Dr. Najmus Saher
Associate Professor
Dept. of Edn. &Training
MANUU
taj_saher20@yahoo.com
There is a tragic legacy of Hyderabadi Muslim girls marrying
elderly Arab men from Gulf Countries.
Hyderabadi Matrimonial connection with the Arabs was first established
in 1970s. This has brought happiness for some families but on the other
hand, many families suffered a lot due to this practice.
Many such alliances survived and flourished as the Arabs who
married Hyderabadi Muslim girls took their brides along with them to
their countries. The socio-economic status of such families changed as
the girls started sending home money and arranging jobs for their close
relatives in Gulf. This situation encouraged many other poor parents to
marry off their daughters to elderly Arabs.
But there is a darker side of this story. Some Arab Sheikhs after
marrying young girls paying a paltry sum of money, live with them for a
short period of time, and then go back to their countries, abandoning the
brides, and this practice has become very common with marriage
becoming a trade and women a commodity.
From the last decade, a new trend has emerged in some localities
of Hyderabad, particularly in the old city. That is, the trend of contract
marriage. Here, I would like to present a few media reports on this issue.
93

November 5, 2012 IBN Live reported that police arrested three people
including bridegroom and a Muslim Cleric who used to arrange
Marriages.

Following a sting operation on Contract Marriages, the

Muslim Cleric was suspended by the Minority Commission. The Cleric

and his associates used to target poor girls and get them married for six to
eight months. Then the girls were abandoned by their husbands.
The Telegraph 14th April, 2013, Report by Dean Nelson, Hyderabad.
A teenager, Nousheen Tabassum, ran away from her home and told
police that her parents were pressurizing her to marry a Sudanese man.
She and three other were introduced to him. He paid 1 lakh, which was
distributed between the broker, Qazi, introducer and parents. The
Wedding Certificate came with the Talakhnama which fixed the terms of
divorce at the end of the grooms holiday. The girl filed a complaint
against her parents. She is kept at Government home for girls and does
not want to go back home as she is scared.
February 8, 2015 - The News Paper Nation
Hyderabad Police busted a racket with the arrest of several people
including brokers, three Qazis who performed illegal marriages and
introducer who facilitated the marriages. There is a huge network. The
Qazis perform marriage secretly for a price although such marriages are
declared illegal by the Waqf Board.
Officials said that at least 5 to 6 minor girls are married to Arabs every
week. Most grooms are above 50 and the girls under 17. The amount
paid will be from thousands to 2 lakhs depending upon the period of
contract.
The Deccan Herald 11th October, 2011
Madannapet Police arrested an Arab Sheikh from Sharjah who came to
Hyderabad for his fourth Contract Wedding ......
Such media reports appear at regular intervals.

94

It has to be understood very clearly that contract marriages are UnIslamic. The corrupt Qazis are ever ready to bend the shariat rules for
monetary gains. This can be stopped by only breaking the nexus between
the brokers, the guest house owners and the Qazi.
The Waqf Board has to exert moral pressure and crack the whip
against such Qazis.
In 2004, Waqf Board issued guidelines to Qazis not to straight away
perform marriages involving foreign nationals specially those of gulf
countries. They were asked to alert the Waqf Board when they approach
to perform such marriages but these guidelines remain on paper only.
Under the jurisdiction of Hyderabad city Waqf Board, there are 18 Qazis
and they appoint Naib Qazis who look after the Nikah and Divorce
process. The rising dowry demands of local boys and extreme poverty
are the main reasons. The girls have a series of Contract Marriages to
fund their own genuine Marriage. In most cases, the incidents are not
reported: only when there is a rift over payments, cases come into the
light of media.
Conclusion:
It is nothing but trafficking under the garb of marriage. There is a need to
look into this issue from the point of human trafficking rather than a case
of marriage of foreign nationals.
Suggestions

The National Commission for Women (NCW) is requested to

take serious action for this practice and to evolve strategies to
help the suffering girls and women to get free from the network.

The state government should prepare new guidelines or review

the existing guidelines for the Waqf Board related to the
marriage of Indian girls foreign nationals
95

Prior permission from the authorities should be made

compulsory for the Qazi if such proposal, come to there before
they perform Nikah.

State Govt. should also have a keen eye on the activities of Qazi
and if any Qazi id found to be indulged in the illicit protect,
either directly or indirectly he should be terminated from his
services and punished severely.

Committee should be formed to check the records of Waqf

Board, to know the number of Nikhas perform and the divorces
granted. This will certainly help in identifying the corrupt Qazi.
The reports of such committee should also be made public
through media.

Recently, the honourable C.M of Telangana state has introduced

Shadi Mubarak Scheme for financially support of the poor
families to get their daughter married. This is highly appreciable
but at the same time, it is desirable that more welfare schemes be
introduced for the rehabilitation of those girls already caught in
th web and also to stop this practice further more.

NGOs can play a vital role in the eradication this customary

practice.

Conduct surveys in old city to identify the families with poor

socio-economic and educational background.

Since the main cause of this practice is poverty & illiteracy, the
NGOs can support such families by providing training in
vocational trades, so that the women/girl/other members of such
families become self employed & improve their financial
conditions.

They can organise awareness campaigns to inform Muslim society that,

the contract marriages are illegal and un-religious.
96

Mainstreaming the Indian Muslim Women The Way

Forward.
Farida Hussain
President
AIWC Hyderabad
faridahussain6@gmail.com

India will be completing seven decades of its independence

soon. During this period, in spite of the claim of gender
inclusive growth, the mass of Indian women have been
marginalized. Despite recording high levels of growth in the last
decade,

women

continue

to

confront

discrimination,

marginalization and exclusion. This disadvantaged state of

women manifests itself in the form of feminization of poverty. It
is therefore felt that there is an urgent need for mainstreaming
womens issues in the countrys growth agenda. It is essential to
include womens talents, skills, experience and energies through
intentional actions and deliberate policies. It is also imperative to
ensure access to economic benefits to women. It is recognized
that women are not a homogenous category for planned
interventions. They belong to diverse classes, religious groups
and communities. There are some segments of women who face
more disadvantages and confront specific deprivations within
the overall context of socio-economic disadvantages faced by
most Indian women.

97

Muslim women in India, who constitute 13.48% of the countrys

female population, encounter more challenges both as female
citizens of India and as members of Indias largest minority.
They are amongst the poorest, educationally most backward,
economically vulnerable and politically marginalized group in
the country. Justice Rajinder Sachar Committee report highlights
the deplorable socio-economic status of the majority of Muslims
in India. Within this picture of marginalization and deprivation it
is predictably certain that the corresponding socio-economic
status for Muslim women is further skewed towards the bottom.
Dr. Arjun Sengupta Committees report states that 85% of
Muslims belong to the categories of poor and vulnerable, who
earn less than Rs. 20 per day. Most Muslim women remain
invisible workers in the informal economy. To make this
situation worse there is no segregated data available to assess
their contribution to the Indian economy.

98

There is a need to sharply focus remedial action on issues

intimately linked with the economic, educational and social
uplift of Muslim women. At macro-economic level, their issues
should be mainstreamed by government investment in policies
and programs that open up avenues for their advancement. There
should be identification of factors that impact different groups of
women differently. There should be proportional participation of
Muslim women in the decision making process and governance
at all levels. The fact is that there has been notable lack of
representation of Muslim women in elected bodies which are
responsible for decision making at macro policy level. The
Election Commission of Indias statistical reports reveal that as
far as representation of Muslim women in the Lok Sabha (the
main policy making body at the centre) is concerned, there have
never been more than 3 elected representatives in the House. In
seven Lok Sabhas there was no Muslim women member at all.
Even state legislatures are no better. At the grass root level,
Panchayati Raj institutions have no proportional Muslim
representation. It is a significant lacuna in the empowerment of
Muslim women since the legislatures hold a tremendous
influence over the lives of these women and are key institutions
capable of bringing about a change and mainstream the realities
of Muslim women.
99

Further, there is a need for mainstreaming budget allocation for

the development of Muslim women. Special budgetary
allocation should be made by the way of a sub-plan for them. So
far no specific allocations are made for minority women in the
womens development programs in general. It has been pointed
out by many commissions that flow of funds to Muslim women
in the composite programs under education, skill development,
health, housing etc. is insufficient. Allocation of funds under the
Ministry of Minority Affairs has also no component or sub-plan
for Muslim women.
The revised 15 point program of the Prime Minister for Minority
Welfare contains no specific sub-plan for Muslim women nor
have budgetary funds been allocated for their development. This
is also the case in notified minority districts (100 in number)
from all over the country where special focused programs for the
development of minorities are to be implemented. Under the
priority sector lending initiative, apex banks like the Reserve
Bank of India and NABARD, have issued instructions to the
commercial banks and lead bank officers at the district level to
disburse loans to Minorities. However, the fact is that at the
implementation level these instructions are ignored.

100

Most Muslim Women are typically engaged in home-based,

subcontracted work with the lowest levels of earnings. They
work in the informal and unorganised sector and in rural areas as
either wage labourers or at most as marginal farmers. It has been
found that bank credit can help them in the creation and
sustenance of self-employment initiatives. A target of 40% of
net bank credit for priority sector lending has been fixed for the
lead banks of the areas in general and also in the 100 Notified
Minority Districts identified on the basis of the concentration of
Muslim population. The priority sector includes agricultural
loans, loans to small-scale businesses, loans to retail traders,
self-employed persons educational loans, housing loans, and
micro-credit. It is to be ensured that an appropriate percentage of
priority-sector lending in all the categories is targeted for the
Minority Community.
Unfortunately, there is very little awareness among the lead bank
officers as well as the would-be beneficiaries regarding this
scheme. Muslim women have rarely benefited from this scheme.
There is urgent need to strengthen the delivery mechanism. It
should be ensured that from District Level Bankers Committees
to State Level Bankers Committees to the National Level,
comprehensive monitoring should be undertaken.
Community-wise, disaggregated data of the flow of credit at the
National, State and District level should be collected. The
delivery mechanism for this should be strengthened.
101

Moreover, Muslim women should be made capable of accessing

the benefits of various schemes and programmes that are
available for women in general. They should be equipped
through improvement in educational opportunities through skill
training/upgradation. Muslim women should be made capable of
benefitting from the economic growth in the Nation. The surest
way of enabling access to education for them is to establish
Schools and Technical Institutions in localities and villages
predominantly inhabited by them. Funds should be made
available to expand schools, purchase lab equipment, construct
hostel buildings and establish and strengthen vocational,
technical training facilities.
With a mix of bank credit and governmental subsidy on the one
side and enabling access to education and skill development on
the other, Muslim girls and women can be brought into
mainstream development. The challenge is to make Technical
and Higher Education available to Muslim women and to link
them to employment. Access to low interest credit, markets,
technical training and skill development for home-based workers
and entrepreneurs should be ensured. The government system at
the grassroots should be made responsive to the needs of Muslim
women.
Gender budgeting and gender outcome assessment should be
encouraged in all Ministries/Departments at the Central and
State levels.
All national policies and programmes should be made gender
sensitive right from their inception stage to the grass root
delivery stage and should prioritise the most vulnerable like
Muslim Women as beneficiaries.

102

The time has come to mainstream Muslim womens issues.

Through mainstreaming their issues there will be scope for
assessing the implications for them of planned action including
legislation, policies or programmes in any area and at levels.
This strategy is apt for making their concerns and experiences an
integral dimension in the design, implementation, budgeting,
monitoring of policies such that their backward status is not
perpetuated.

103

Empowerment of Muslim Women in India

Shabana Kesar
Asst. Professor
Dept. of Women Education
MANUU.
sabasuri@gmail.com
Introduction:
Women in general and Muslim women in particular have been subjected
to stifling oppression, resulting in their subordination throughout the
history irrespective of socio-economic, demographic and religious
differences.
Since men and women are considered as two wheels of a society, both
wheels should work equally. Women constitute approximately half of the
worlds population get they are placed at various disadvantageous
positions due to the existing gender differences. The womens question is
no longer an issue confined to the position of women within the family,
but also their right to equality with men in different aspects of social life.
It is a broader question regarding socio political and economic
development. In spite of various protective measures provided by the
constitution, women in India have not been emancipated from the age old
tradition and customs and therefore they are unable to play any
significant role in overall development. A woman throughout the history
has been victim of exploitation, violence and discrimination. Still today
women are considered as secondary citizens, and thus are more
vulnerable to abuse and are less able to protect themselves from
discrimination. So is the situation with Muslim women, in India,
vulnerable as compared to other women. Muslim women in India are the
catalyst for development. Their emancipation may be a crucial step in the
development of community. Their present status by and large reflects the
dominance of traditional attitude. An improvement in their present day
status will not only contribute in the progress and modernization of the
community but also the development and modernization of entire nation.
104

Profile of Muslim women in India: The words of Sir Syed Ahmed

Khan, spoken about a century ago, still continue to be meaningful in our
society. He had said while Islam has given equal status in law and
religion to men and women, the position of Muslim women is in fact
miserable. We know that Islam has granted many rights to women which
had been denied to them in all the societies. It has safeguarded the status
of women in many spheres and accorded to them the highest status, be it
as a daughter, as a wife, a mother and in all matters Islam has given
women their full rights, be it a matter of marriage, maintenance, property,
employment or education. Islam grants an honorable position to women
in society. Keeping the basic realities and potentialities of males and
females in view, literal equality of sexes is neither possible nor desirable
as there are some basic differences in the two and as observation
establishes both excel in their own respective fields. But, in practices we
see that Muslim women are denied their rights. Even though Islam
emphasizes the right and importance of education unequivocally, access
to education for Muslim women has been deeply severed. The prophet of
Islam also advocated for the same. Muslim women have played an
important and historic role as scholars and leaders in education. However,
Muslim women face restrictions in accessing education that differs
greatly from one region to another. Yet, there are similar underlying
challenges that Muslim women face in trying to receive education: one
such example is the traditional patriarchal interpretation of Qiwamah, the
motion that men are guardians of Muslim women. Although the Quran
stipulates that both men and women are protectors of one another, the
concept of qiwamah has been used to justify various restrictions on
women that in turn hinder Muslim womens education. In many cases
Muslim girls are forced to marry at a very early age and thus kept at
home instead of in the classroom. They are taught that their only role is
that of a wife and of a mother and are discouraged from seeking
educational and professional opportunities. The most tragic thing is that
Muslim women have accepted happily and internalized the kinds of roles
their men want them to live with. The situation is so worse that an
unfortunate thing is that they are not even aware of their situation, as they
are neither opinion makers nor the decision makers.
The situation of Muslim women worsens, as the custom and tradition
have always been a hindrance not only to progress, but also to correct
interpretation of religion. Too often identification of religion with social
custom has precluded any idea of change.
105

The other reasons responsible for misinterpretation of Quranic injuctions

regarding womens rights, besides traditionalism, are male bigotry,
female illiteracy and ignorance and vested interests in maintaining the
status quo in society. Contemporary Indian Muslim society is of course
characterized by educational and economic backwardness and the
position of women is much lower than that of men in both areas. No
doubt progress is made, and more and more Muslim women are acquiring
education and gaining economic independence thus improving their status
in family and society, but still many remain illiterate and a lot needs to be
done to improve their condition.

The knowledge of common men,

especially women, is extremely poor in religious matters and she is not

aware of her rights. She is so non-affirmative that she cannot demand her
rights even if she knows them because she completely depends on men.
Studies have revealed that Muslim women in both rural and urban India
lag behind their counter parts in school enrolment from the very
beginning. Muslim women in urban India are more aware than their rural
counter parts.

This educational disadvantage of women in Muslim

communities calls for attention. Even after six decades of independence,

Muslim women face considerable challenges as Indians and as the
members of Indias largest minority.
According to government reports Muslim women are among the poorest,
educationally disenfranchised, economically vulnerable and politically
marginalized group in the country. In 1983, the Gopal Singh committee
constituted by the government declared Muslims as a backward
community in India. A central feature of this backwardness is their
exceedingly poor socio-economic status, particularly that of the Muslim
women. The Muslim share in employment is less than 3%. The lack of
social opportunities for Muslim women is a crucial issue needing urgent
action.

106

It is also observed that Muslim women suffer problems associated with

marriage including polygamy, consent at the time of marriage, fixation of
Maher, maintenance after marriage and divorce, the practice of triple
talaq, and inheritance.

It is not surprising that some of the Islamic

provisions concerning marriage and divorce got distorted.

Marriage

began to the considered as final and binding for a woman, and she
virtually lost the freedom to divorce and her seclusion behind the veil got
sanctified in the name of religion. In the matter of inheritance too, the
regional and customary laws began to prevail and the Muslim women
became a non inheritor like other women. In this way, she became a
victim of socio-cultural irony. While in theory she was supposed to enjoy
the rights enjoined by the Quran, in reality she was never allowed to
enjoy them both by local custom and the patriarchy.

An important

question that arises is why did deterioration creep in the Muslim society
and even gain ascendancy over Quranic laws, and bring about a similarity
between Hindu and Muslim women, especially in a period when there
was political supremacy of the Muslims.
This was no ordinary socio-cultural transportation; rather, it was
motivated since it was in the interests of the Muslim male. In doing so
the Muslim male was able to establish egalitarian man- women
relationship & in India at least, never made any serious effort to loosen
his grip. The Muslim women on the other hand, having been pushed into
seclusion and segregation, could never secure a platform from which she
could exercise her rights and fight for regaining the lost privileges or seek
improvement in the context of continuously changing conditions.

107

Another setback to Muslim women arises from the fact that Indian
Muslims now live in a society where there still exist forces that are not
quite willing to grant women the equality that they should get. Traditional
prejudices and world-wide views persist. Vested interests continue and
will not easily let go their dominance and privileges and it seems that the
biggest stumbling block to the emancipation of women are men. Some
attribute this irony to the phenomenon of purdah, holding that her
seclusion, isolation and segregation have nullified the rights that have
been granted to her. Many Muslim sections have supported the very
wrong concept of purdah as seclusion and segregation where as in reality,
purdah is observed to safeguard ones chastity and dignity and to protect
oneself from evil onlookers. It does not in any way segregate women
from development and empowerment.
A new book of Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon (Unequal citizens: Muslim
women in India; Oxford University 2004) presents the results of a
national survey covering around 10000 Muslim and Hindu women. This
is the first such survey of this magnitude covering the whole country, and
obviously therefore, the findings deserve attention. But perhaps even
more interesting than the results themselves are the insights that are
drawn in to the interplay of various factors that determine the conditions
of Muslim womens lives. Of course, there are some easily predictable
conclusions, especially with respect to economic status, the low status of
Muslims is now well-known, and they are disproportionally represented
among the poor and have the lowest per capita income indicators. This is
ascribed not only to the lack of access to ownership but also to poor
educational attainment and occupational patterns which show clustering
in low paid activities, as well as the concentration of the Muslim
population in the economically backward regions of the country.

108

The survey reveals many predictable assumptions regarding the low

economic status of Muslim women of which one of the standard
assumptions about Muslim women is that religion prevents them from
getting more equal access to education. Two other features that are more
specific to Muslim community may have operated to devalue continuing
education for girls. The first is that Muslim men also have very low
educational attainment in general. The study found that 26% of educated
Muslim women have illiterate husbands. This low male educational level
would create further pressures to impose ceilings on girls education. In
addition an early marriage is also a major inhibiting factor.
Early marriage has adverse implications, it is usually associated with high
early fertility, which affects womens nutrition and health status; it tends
to reduce womens autonomy and agency in the marital home; and to
create conditions of patriarchal subservience that get perpetuated through
life and it thereby often reduces self worth. This in turn, may affect
womens work participation in direct and indirect ways. It is well known
that the work participation of Muslim women is very low. This may be
less due to the patriarchal structures and patterns (rather than the religion)
which inhibits mobility and lack of opportunity. The survey also affirmed
that 75% of Muslim women needed their husbands permission to work
outside, which showed that they have less autonomy of decision making
within their household.
109

To assess the profile of Muslim women in regard to education and

economy the NSSO and Sachar committee report provide a broad
spectrum investigation into the socio- economic status of Muslims in
India. The findings of the committee report emphasizes that Muslim
women are double disadvantaged with low level of education combined
with low quality of education. Muslim women are educationally
backward, and the dropout rate is significantly high among Muslim
women as compared to Hindu women and their Muslim male counterpart.
In an informative article published in The Hindu in 2004, Asha Krishna
Kumar points out that socio- economic condition of a majority of
Muslims is worse than those of Hindus. Some 59% of Muslim women
have not attended schools, 60% were married by the age of 17 and hardly
14% registered work participation. Overall, Muslims have literacy rate of
59.1%, 5.7% lower than the national average. Hardly half the Muslim
women are literate. In 15 states, the literacy level among Muslim women
is less than 50%. Muslims register the lowest work participation rate of
31.3% and just about 14% of Muslim women are registered to participate
in work.
To discuss the educational status of Muslims in general and Muslim
women in particular the data produced in census also indicates that
literacy rate among Muslim women is 50%.
Awareness for change

110

Though from above discussion we come to know about features and

causes of Muslim womens low socio- economic status in India, some
studies have also shown considerable change in their status. With the
influence of considerably better educational background of the parents
and other family members, awareness is emerging among Muslim women
about the importance of higher education. Attitudinal change is
significant and encouraging, but with reference to empowerment we can
say that they are in transitory stage. Muslim women are now aware of the
importance and inevitability of education as a tool of change and
development, and those who aspire for higher education and seek
freedom to take their own decisions in the matters concerning education,
employment, family matters and thus achieve independence and
empowerment. With reference to employment also there are some
positive changes. Their realization that Islam does not inhibit women folk
from seeking employment outside is increasing their economic
participation and independence. It is also felt that Muslim girls are
exercising their right to consent at the time of marriage which was
otherwise denied. In matters of family affairs also Muslim women are no
more submissive and dont want to reconcile to their fate and male
domination. They want to have their say and equal participation in
decision making in important decisions concerning education of their
children, employment and marriage.
It is heartening to see that several positive changes are taking place in the
attitude and status of Muslim women. However, the fact remains that the
rate of change is slow because of a number of constraints and problems
faced by them which hinder them from achieving empowerment. The
prominent factors are illiteracy, economic backwardness, ignorance about
the various government policies and provisionary measures for the
minorities meant for their upliftment and empowerment.
Conclusion and Suggestions.
111

In order to overcome the constraints faced by Muslim women to achieve

empowerment, a multidimensional approach is needed to address the root
cause of their socio-economic backwardness. Strengthening human rights
mechanisms by allowing the independent working of minority
commissions is needed. From religious point of view reforms in Muslim
personal law based on necessary interventions should be incorporated.
Self empowerment of Muslim women can be done by addressing the
reasons of poor educational status, low social and economic participation.
Collaborative efforts of both center and state agencies should be
implemented to improve the economic status of Muslim women. Schemes
for adult literacy for Muslim communities must be undertaken by the
central and state governments in order to address the compelling literacy
needs of Muslim women. In addition, scholarships for minority students
should be instituted by the state governments. Removing stereotypes and
prejudices against Muslims with the help of media and concerted efforts
of social workers, politicians, police and NGOs.
Once these issues are addressed effectively, there is no doubt that the
Muslim community at large will march ahead in the direction of progress
and development and in turn Muslim women will realize the dream of
equality of status and empowerment. Finally, it is recommended that
further research is needed on large scale on above lines.
References:
1. Ahmed Imtiyaz (ed.), 1983, Modernization and Social change among
Muslims in India, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.
2.

Ahmed Imtiyaz (ed.), 1983, Caste and Social Stratification among

Muslims in India, Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.

3.

Brijbhushan, Jamil. 1980. Muslim women - In Purdah and Out of it,

Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi.

4.

Chaudhary, Pratima K, 1998. Changing Values among Young

Women, Amar Prakshan, New Delhi.

112

5.

Devi, Shakuntala, 1998,Tradition and Modernity among Indian

Women, Pointer Publishers, Jaipur.

6.

Gail, Minault,1998. Secluded scholars : Womens education and

Muslim social reform in colonial India. OUP: New Delhi.

7.

Nasreen Fazelbhoy, Sociology of Muslim in India:A Review,

Economic and Political Weekly,28thJune 1997,pp1547-51S

8.

Jhunjhunwala Bharat and Jhunjhunwala Madhu , 2004, Indian

Approach to Womens Empowerment,Rawat Publications, Jaipur and
New Delhi Sachar Committee Report,2006, Social, Economic and
Educational Status of the Muslim Community on India, Prime
Ministers High Level Committee, Cabinet secretariat, Government of
India

9.

Sharrif, Abusaleh, Socio-economic and Demographic Differentials

between Hindu and Muslim in India, Economic and Political
weekly, vol.46, 18th Nov.1995,p.2948

10. Zoya Hasan and Ritu Menon, 2004, Unequal citizens: A study of
Muslim women in India,OUP, New Delhi.

113

Girl Students of Deeni Madaaris and their Role in Mainstream

Development Process
Dr. Rafat Seema
Gen. Secretary,
Nisa Research and Resource
Centre for Women
rafatseema1@gmail.com
I am presenting this paper with my experience on Madaaris to
which I am related directly and indirectly. I am the product of famous
girls Madarsa Jamiatus Salehat of Rampur, U.P. and after that I have
been teaching in Madarsa and also established two Madaaris, one in
regular and another in distance mode; so I have 25 years of teaching and
administrative experience in Madarsa education. As a student, as a
teacher and as an administrator, I have different experiences and have
seen a lot of change in the mode of education, the lifestyle and standard
of Madarsa.
When I was a student of Madarsa, my teachers prepared me in
such a manner that along with Alima and Fazila course, I also completed
Matriculation and intermediate education. After completion of Madarsa
education, I came back to Hyderabad and continued my education from
Osmania University and successfully completed rest of the courses
including PhD.
While preparing to present this paper here, I was also thinking of
what would have been my future if the Madarsa teachers would not have
allowed us to appear simultaneously for the matriculation and
intermediate education. This was the farsightedness of the Madarsa
management four decades ago which thought of the importance of
education, we are discussing at this time. It shows their concern towards

114

the Madarsa girl students to participate in the mainstream of life and

fulfill their social responsibility.
As a Madarsa product I feel that I am in no way behind the
women who have studied at the colleges and universities. I can give
innumerable examples of such Madarsa students who are playing a vital
role and fulfilling their responsibilities in different walks of life such as
education, engineering, medicine, entrepreneurs, NGOs, politics,
Journalism etc.
There is a wrong concept and negative propaganda against the
Madarsa institutions that they are far from the mainstream but the truth is
different from this propaganda. If we look back at history, the students of
Madaaris initiated the independent struggle, fought for and sacrificed
their lives against the British Empire to free the motherland India from
their clutches. The Madarsa students also played an important role in
building plural society of India. Even after the independence, these
students played a key role in Indian politics to build India into worlds
biggest secular and democratic country. Just two examples of Moulana
Hasrat Mohani and Moulana Abul Kalam Azad will suffice. They were
able to rise to such positions and became inspiration for the Muslim
community and the real credit goes to their mothers who played the key
role of imparting education to them: they themselves were educated so
they were able to educate their sons.
Coming back to the topic and discussion on the mainstreaming
the Indian Muslim women the way forward, I can say in straight
forward words that Indian Muslim woman is moving forward by
combating the challenges from different elements of the society. The
Muslim women have successfully adopted the newly changing
atmosphere along with protecting their cultural identity. Once in
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Hyderabad state, which is now called Telangana there were numerous

government girls schools and colleges; Muslim families used to send their
girls in those schools to get the education from primary to higher level.
But unfortunately those girls schools were wiped out by the government
and changed into co-education schools. But Muslim parents never
stopped the education of their daughters and moved towards the Madaaris
and the present situation is more girls are enrolled in Madaaris than in
government schools. Many girls are going to the government schools as
well but they are facing problems in those schools. Broadly, I have
noticed that the students who go to government schools face a type of
discrimination in curriculum and co-curricular activities of the school;
they feel strange atmosphere because neither they see themselves in the
syllabus nor they have their names in the co curricular activities. The
government itself has framed syllabus in such a manner that there is
domination of only one particular culture. This is a grave mistake of the
government that the school syllabus is not framed keeping in mind the
composite culture of the society because of which the Muslim students
and their parents are concentrating themselves on Madaaris instead of
schools. Particularly the Muslim girl students face discrimination due to
the burqa as well which is part of their culture and identity. This
invisibility of themselves and their culture in school syllabus is fixed in
the minds of students in such a way that those who have completed
education from schools, colleges are moving towards Madaaris. Because
they think that without getting the Madarsa education the aim of their
education is incomplete. The girls and women who have completed
professional courses such as B.Ed, M.Ed, engineering, medicine etc. are
approaching Madaaris to complete their education. With this we can
understand that they can make their way to move forward.

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Here I would like to present a fact that Madarsa is an Urdu word

which means School in English. But in our society this word Madarsa
is related to religious education and the word school for modern
education. In the present scenario especially in Hyderabad and other
metro cities of India the concept of Madarsa has completely changed.
Now a days, some Madaaris are introducing distance education mode of
learning as well. Every school which is run by Muslim management is a
Madarsa and every Madarsa is a school. Even some of the Hindu
management schools are opting for this system keeping in mind the need
of the majority of students in their school.
In present times thousands of girls are studying in Madaaris.
After completing their education from Madarsa they are leading a
successful life and fulfilling their social responsibilities as well. It was the
matter of past days that the students who completed their education in
Madaaris faced problems in coming to the mainstream. In contemporary
times, the situation has changed. The Madarsa now a days is a complete
educational institution from where a student can get the knowledge of
different subjects which leads them towards playing important role in
mainstream life. The aim of Madarsa education is to mould the students
character in such a way that they can emerge as noble personality. But,
the students have to work hard in gaining knowledge of both the
education systems i.e. religious and modern education. Though the
Madarsa students are trying their best to join mainstream but they are
facing problems from other side of the society as said earlier. There is a
need of time to address the problems faced by these students from the
other side.
The government of India by understanding the need of time, has
recognized the importance of Madaaris and provided the benefits under
the project, Sarva Siksha Abhiyaan and supplied the text books of
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Mathematics, Science, English, Social Studies and Urdu; trained teachers

for teaching these text books; arranged for their salaries; and created
provision to provide mid day meals. But there are many lapses in
implementation of this scheme such as redtapism which is a big hurdle
for those Madaaris who want to utilize this scheme. The text books are
not provided in time and the salary amount is very meager and moreover
it is not paid for over a year; after reminding several times they pay
amount of only ten months. Due to the excessive paper work and tedious
procedures and delay, 90% of the allocated budget for this purpose is
lapsed.
On the other side, the management of Madaaris are themselves
providing all the facilities by mobilizing resources from their own
community. The management of many Madaaris have also modernized
their Madaaris by introducing better infrastructural facilities, computer
education, vocational training etc. Most of the Zakat of the Muslim
community goes to the Madaaris which shows the concern of the Muslim
community towards the education of children. The Madaaris also provide
free shelter in the form of hostel, three times meals, clothes, medical
facility etc.
Even the studies and research on Madaaris have revealed that the
girls who study at Madaaris are equipped with more self confidence
compared to the girls of modern education. And this makes them easily
empowered in different areas such as Urdu journalism, teaching
profession in their own country as well as at gulf countries and Islamic
centers in western countries. The number of girls Madaaris is more than
the number of boys Madaaris in Hyderabad. The social problem of
marriages of Muslim girls is also solved to a great extent because the girls
studying in Madaaris get married off during the completion of their final
course thereby their marriages are not delayed.
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The above important issue can be understood and felt only by

those Muslims who are working at the grass root level and cannot be
understood even by the intellectuals. The role which Madaaris are playing
is very important and precious because if these Madaaris do not take care
of all the above discussed then the children of poor Muslim community
will be seen begging or inclining towards criminal activities and the
illiteracy rate would also be high.
The negative impression among the people about Madaaris
should go away because both the types of education i.e. school and
Madarsa provide formal education system. It is not true that the Madarsa
students get only one side i.e. religious education, but in fact they get
other side of education as well. These students of Madaaris should be
looked parallel with the students of arts, science, maths and English
because it also depends upon the interest of the student about which field
they want to choose and pursue. As we do not expect the arts student to
be perfect in science or maths, likewise one should not expect the
Madarsa student to be perfect in maths, science or arts but it is enough for
them if they have basic knowledge of these subjects.
Nowadays the main aim of girls education is to empower them in
different fields to meet the challenges of life; the Madaaris is playing this
role in a better manner and on par with modern schools. But the Madarsa
form of education can be better if the government considers the following
recommendations:
1.

Recognize the Madarsa education as a full fledged form of

education.

2.

Discrimination between Madarsa and school should be

avoided/removed as both are different words with same
meaning.

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3.

Provide all the facilities which are provided to the government

schools and teachers.

4.

Madaaris are still looked at with suspicion, this should be

stopped immediately. (Recently MHRD issued a circular to the
Madarsa management to take measures for detecting and
countering radicalization and deradicalization efforts). This
type of mindset in government agencies should be stopped
immediately.

5.

Allocated funds for the Madaaris should be properly and fully

utilized and the allocation should be increased in new budgets.

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Mainstreaming of the Indian Muslim Women Few

Suggestions
Dilnaz Baig
Women Rights Activist
dilnazbaig@hotmail.com

I am thankful to MANUU, the National Commission for Women

led by Mrs. Lalitha Kumaramangalam, Mrs Shamina Shafiq and the two
very capable Aminas for inviting me to take part in this Colloquium of
Mainstreaming Indian Muslim Women - The Way Forward.
The subject is very dear to me as I work for little children 'young
girls and any women in distress, caste, colour, creed no bar. The woes
of women across the spectrum are the same and to address them, we
have to go to the root of the malaise.
Amartyna Sens study shows that 6 million women have been
killed that is more than both the world wars and even the holocaust did
not kill so many and every day 24 women are burnt I am sure the
percentage of Muslims is on part to their population for no fault of theirs,
perhaps because of dowry / being barren/ giving birth to a girl or flimsy
excuse that she is dark or thin.
How can we fight this menace?
We should educate the women but the men should also be
educated on the measures and appeal to their gallantry to protect their
mothers, sisters, daughters and wife.

The judiciary should dole

out punishments that are true deterrent like life 50 years imprisonment.
Muslim women who are divorced are rarely paid adequate
meher or maintance for 3 months.Perhaps when she got married her
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parents must have given her husband 1 lakh and Jehez of bedroom
furniture, cooking vessels, gas and a scooter, all this in the lowest rung,
we can imagine with what difficulty the parents must have organized all
this. If instead they had done a back ground check and made their
daughters educated and employable, it would have been a different
story. A woman should be taught her rights given to her by the Indian
constitution; not only should she know how to use the Indian civil code
but know the rights bestowed by Islamic sharia. A prominent advocate
and social activist Mr Shafiq Mahajan in a recent statement said that the
mullas should consider giving the divorced women 20% of their wealth
i.e: property/provident fund/ salary/daily earnings. This should be
thoroughly processed by the ulemas and the judiciary.
A very sad state of affairs is the hidden shame of incest that is
rife in the slums as the small living spaces. The sad part is the mothers
stay silent to protect the men. The only way is to teach the children
what a good touch and a bad touch is and to make them to be a confident
/ a best friend and the teachers should be sound boards. The time has
come that women have to help themselves nobody can live in an ivory
tower and each one has to help another to survive to live an isolated
selfish life one is undermining the human spirit the more people you help
the more you grow as a humane

person.

We should all become

responsible to all that is going on around us and not be a silent spectator,

at least we should use our lung power to get help for the distressed.
Girls should also be trained in self defense and taught how to
call the police for help.

A lot has been said about educating girls. A

woman who earns a viable income has the confidence to take on the
world as everything boils down to economics, she gains respect and
becomes a formidable entity.

122

The police, the judiciary, the society around MLAs, MLCs

should be more approachable and aware and pro actively/sympathetically
helpful.
I appeal to all my brothers as society cannot be whole without
them that dare any one raise a finger to harm your mother/ wife /
daughter/ sister that person will have you to contend with. May you
protect all the female race then you can call yourselves Gods blessed
souls not the one who molests, rapes /beats/ kills. Muslim women should
be made to feel secure as she and hers have also helped India gain
Independence to become a great country.

JAI HIND

123

Mainstreaming of the Muslim Women - A Grass Root Level

Perspective

124

Need of the Muslim Women:

The needs /demands are not so far removed from their nonMuslim counterparts the only
difference being that it has a specifically religious bent.
The issues/challenges of the Muslim women are many sided and
closely related to the issues/challenges of the Muslim society as a whole.
Muslim women are just a part of the whole
Eg: Illiteracy is not just the womens challenge but the entire
communitys.
Why the need arises

125

1) Enfranchisement within the community

To reap the benefits of development and also become a direct
contributor to the development instead of just remaining the beneficiary
of development.

So far they have only been the beneficiaries of

development (whenever development has happened)

2) Constant deprivation and vulnerability derived from the

following sources
Cultural
Religious
Legal
Socio economic
Technological
Recommendations :
The community needs to be addressed as a whole with male
/youth inclusion.
Technology should be used to leverage interventions.
Women leadership to be developed and the modern role models
to be created
Involve influencing agents (religious heads) in the growth
process with a focus on retaining the cultural identity of the
women.
Create our own agendas and use global platforms to highlight
the unique agenda of the Asian Muslim woman.
Identify and use successfully implemented programs from the
South Asian subcontinent.
Include Muslim women at policy level.
Avoid media distortions.
126

Empowerment of Muslim Women through Education

&Training
Qamar Jamali
Retd. MRO,
Dist. Mahboob Nagar,T.S.

We have gathered here to discuss the issues regarding the

Rights of a woman which she is entitles from her birth. But
because of the prevalent social set up of Indian society, she is
either deprived or unaware of her Rights. Since the days of yore
she has led such a life that she has accepted her bondage to be her
Basic Right.
The woman in Indian Society from the olden days is under
the control of some one and she has accepted her obedience
towards man as her fate. Consequently the society has also
confirmed her status as bonded.
In fact, Islam is the religion which gives more privileges
to women, and preaches Equality. The Holy Quran describes the
dignity of a mother in the following way. In Surah ALZAMAR
Az Zumar, Ruku 1 verse 6 it is said:
He has made (Protection) you with their darkness in your
mothers womb.
He makes you, in the wombs of your mothers, in stages, one after
another, in three veils of darkness.
As such Prophet Mohammad PBUH, said:
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The most deserving person of your best behaviour and

love is Your Mother, Your Mother, Your Mother, End their Your
Mother.
This saying of Prophet (PBUH) reveals the Dignity of
Women in Islam. Why talk about Islam only, in all religions
women are adored.
But unfortunately all the saying is left behind in books,
mandates, and sermons only. Truly speaking a woman in society
is a commodity which can be bought and sold. Practically she is
an instigator, who can instigate sex, one who can give birth, a
maid who masters a shield against enemies of her family, who can
love, sacrifice and die for her family.
Yet she remains
Incomplete --- Half knowledge
Weak ---- can not resist
Delicate---- can not sustain
Beautiful --- needs a protection
In short she needs a man to support her in every sphere of
life. See the irony that she has accepted this Myth as her Fate
and feels secure in her self-made image. So Shakespeare has
rightly said
Frailty ---- they save is women Frailty, thy name is woman.
Now the quest is how to break this myth.
In a simple way, the answer is:
(i) The first & foremost & fundamental need is Education.

128

(ii) Secondly to make herself self-reliant.

This is possible if she

treats herself as equal to man. She shall be economically strong to

get rid of the obligations that Man is the sole provider to her.
Hence her Empowerment through Employment shall be sought
out.
Reasons:
Let us find out ways to sort out these problems. To
understand the problems, it is necessary to find out the reasons
that allow them to happen, such as the contemporary challenges in
which she survives, the Socio-Economic conditions that resist her.
India has vast diversity.

Its social, political, economical and

cultural values are paradoxical and so are the problems.

According to 2011 Census:
The Demographical figures of Indias population are;
Total population

: 121, 05, 69, 573 (One twenty one

point zero five crores)

Out of this male population

: 62,31,21,843 ( Sixty two point

three one crores)

Female population

: 58, 74, 47, 730 (Fifty eight point

seven four crores)

And the literacy level:

Male literacy

80.87% (Eighty point eight seven

percent)
Female literacy :

64.64% (Sixty four point six four percent)

129

The difference between both levels is 16.25% which is not

so disappointing. If we restrict these figures to the undivided
Andhra Pradesh state, the demography is:
A.P. State Total Population

8, 45, 80, 777 (Eight point

4, 24, 42, 146 (Four point

4, 21, 38,631 (Four point

four five crores)

Out of this male population
two four crores)
Female population
two one crores)
Of these figures, the rural population is :

5, 54, 01,

067
and the rural literacy is:

67. 62%

Gandhiji said that the real India lives in villages. Even

today this saying can not be ignored since rural population at
present is three times more than the urban population where
literacy level is very low. It is very necessary that when we think
about the development and empowerment of women, especially
Muslim women then we should think about rural Muslim women
in India.
Strategies:
We are thinking about mainstreaming the Muslim women.
Accordingly the strategies shall be to find out the reasons that
hinder Muslim women from stepping into the mainstream in the
prevalent social set up of the Indian society.
130

1.

Muslim girls are not permitted to continue education after

attaining the age of adolescence.

2.

Early Marriage which affects their self confidence.

3.

Improper Adult Education in Rural Areas.

4.

Economic Empowerment to Eradicate causes of

infeasibility of marketing.

5.

Empower NGOs

Recommendations:

Post Matric Education

The government should establish bridged-schools for the

dropouts to enhance the literacy level among Muslim women.

Consequently child labor should also be restricted.
So also there shall be programme for post-matric
education as Muslim girls are not permitted to continue education
after attaining adolescence.
complete matriculation.

By this time they shall however

Moreover simple academic education

doesnt help them to accept the challenge of life.

Therefore

technical and professional education may be promoted at mandal

levels so that Muslim girls may not have to go at distant places in
pursuit.

Awareness Programmes:

131

Awareness programmes shall be organized at Mandal

levels. They shall be made aware of their right and the setbacks of
early marriages. Their self confidence must be strengthened so as
to make their mind free from male chauvinism, boosting in them
self confidence and self reliance.

Improvement of Night Schools:

Often it is seen that only old aged ladies attend adult

education centre where they are taught to write their names, made
acquainted with alphabet and figures and taught signature so as to
avoid exploitation and forgery against them. Women who are
involved in family life do not come to night schools, since they
prefer to sit in front of TV and get entertained. Therefore some
morality based entertainment activities that boost their knowledge
shall be introduced in these centers to attract all age group people
irrespective of age & gender.

Marketing Through Self Help Groups:

Muslim Women observe Parda or Hijab and do not

prefer to go selling their handicrafts or products. Most of the

Muslim women are talented in their skills. They are well versed
with painting fabrics, embroidery, making Achaar Badiyan,
Papad, Weaving Ropes out of the jute and making toys of clay etc.
Their skills get trained and they get the chance to promote their
products, they can make miracle out of their little home talents.

132

Therefore, as is done in Gujarat where people do not go

home to home to sell milk, on the contrary the co-operative society
agent collects at their door-step,

so also the practice for all

commodities shall be promoted. The policy or Haftwar Bazar shall

be enhanced by self help groups.

Empower NGOs Role:

It is seen that social development tasks are more

conveniently taken up by NGOs rather than government

machinery.
There are certain huge type of NGOs, having prominent backing
with banks. Yet there are certain others struggling for existence
and shall be uplifted. These NGOs make good support with
people which helps sorting out rural problems. The government
shall consider seriously on these points.
These are the few strategies and recommendations for
helping the Muslim women in mainstreaming.

133

Drop out of Muslim Girls - Reasons & Remedies

(A Study with Reference to School Education in Hyderabad)

Ruqia Taskeen
Senior Teacher &
State Resource Person, Hyderabad. Telangana.
rafiuddinruknuddin@yahoo.in
We do not study and take notice of those bright and distinct foot
prints that we see on our way as the relics of our glorious past. An
agonizing fact is socio-economic condition of the heirs of those relics is
either partially or completely seized up after Independence, which in turn
bribed them to educational backwardness. The question Mainstreaming
the Indian Muslim Women can not be answered until the educational
backwardness is completely eradicated from the life of Muslims. The
strength of determination and conviction is needed to be provoked.
Particular surveys, studies, observations and monitoring report
of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan since 2004 and onwards show the agonizing
fact behind the drop out of Muslim girls during the mid-way educational
process. It shows the major minority of the nation is in distress. A
survey by Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) official shows that Muslim girls
education facilities are at the lowest. The prejudice, urbanization leads to
sophisticated modern life, leads to drop out of Muslim girls. Hyderabad
an emerging cosmopolitan city has 42% of Muslim population. The city
has no proper access for the education of girl-child. By September 2014
it has been identified that 35% of Muslim girls are drop outs.
Constitutional rights executes that every child has right to attain
education either in the regional language or in his own mother tongue. It

134

is a point of concern that greater part of the major minority of the nation
is still deprived from attaining education on proper access in their own
mother tongue among them Muslims.
MHRD norms state that primary school must be located within
the radius of 1km, upper primary at 3 km and high school must be within
the radius of 5 km of habitation. Even when school is established in
catchment area, regional language becomes the criteria, failing to fulfill
the educational needs of a particular community. By 2013-14 maximum
number of upper primary schools have been merged with high schools
which again are located at the radius of 5 km and beyond or at scattered
places, does not exist in the habitation. This Results in 17% drop out at
upper primary and 18% at primary school level.
Government amenities such as Books, Uniforms, Mid-Day
meals etc., are the key factors to enhance the pace of retention in the
government schools. Anxiety, lack of interest, Discouragement, loss of
self confidence is being created in the students by delayed provision of
books and other amenities.
Following custom and culture is the fundamental right.
Uniforms and Mid-Day meals which are being provided reflect other
customs and traditions. When students are forced to avail the provision,
clad the uniform, they drop the education at the mid of the educational
process and Muslim girls cannot clad other traditional dresses. It is ones
own life; a child has the right of likes and dislikes. Provision of uniforms
as per the culture lead to flourishing self confidence and discipline among
the students.
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Studies of SSA show that another reason behind drop out is

Muslim girls and women do not get equal opportunity for education and
development. 200 Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidylaya (KGBV) and
different girls hostels been established. A matter of concern is that only
few Urdu KGBVs and girls hostels at the outskirts and scattered places
are established. Its a known fact that Muslim girls are not sent to distant
hostels. If we want to draw transition, establishment of KGBVs within
the radius of particular habitation will be somewhere fruitful. Besides
being this girls hostel must be supervised by female warden not the male
warden. Security assurance which satisfies the parent can be turning
point: the point which shuffles us is minorities are not allowed to be
admitted in the SC-BC residential schools.

Whereas SCs-BCs are

admitted in the minority residential schools (Ibrahimpatnam-Hyd).

As stated earlier, social condition of Muslim community
completely diminished and is lagging behind in the educational process.
A clear cut demarcation is that mothers play a prominent role in the
education of girl-child, but when mother herself is down trodden,
transition in the community cannot be seen. A survey shows 46% of
mothers are illiterate and 39% of mothers are below IX standard. As a
whole 85% of mothers are either illiterate or less educated whereas study
show that 90% mothers are literate in other communities.
Desire and determination of attaining education is being
swallowed by the giant of poverty. Eradication of poverty cannot be
achieved until the whole of the community attains complete literacy. The
most important and well known fact for dropout is taking care of siblings
at home-customs, cultural rituals like early marriage, marriage to elderly
expatriates, to support economic condition of home, and social insecurity.

136

Involving nine NGOs a special survey for Hyderabad was

conducted during 2011-2012. During this survey 85,000 houses were
visited. It has been identified that 8,000 children either never enrolled or
are drop outs. Out of this figure only 2,000 could be admitted to schools.
As the time passes the number is reaching to the extreme levels. It has
been an unavoidable urgent need of the day to take specific measures.
Recommendations:

Sense of self-respect, discipline, self confidence, monetary

assurance, social prestige being the sense of integral part of the
nation must be ignited among the major minority of the nation.

This financial year 62,000 crores of budget have been sanctioned

for the cause of Muslim minority. It is suggested to be worked
in reality.

Under constitutional Fundamental Right i.e.

Equality and

Social Justice, girls must get equal opportunity of education.

Sense of optimism, zeal and enthusiasm must be created among

the girls for the making of sublime and multi dimensional
personality, through proper orientation, counseling and training.

Right to compulsory and free education (RTE) must be

implemented. According to RTE each and every child has right
to get free and compulsory education as per their custom and
tradition.

As per the MHRD norms every habitation and catchment area

must be furnished with a government primary, upper primary
and high school of concerned mother tongue.

Appropriate number of KGBVs and girls hostels must be

established within the accessible radius.

For the provision of government amenities such as books,

uniforms, mid-day meals etc., proper distribution centers of
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books, number of books accordingly to the students, concerned

language officer with the sense of responsibilities and
accountability must be scheduled.

Uniform and mid-day meals provided need second look.

Fundamental right provides the opportunity to follow customs
and culture. Provided amenities must reflect the same to boom
the self confidence among the students.

Law and order must not be at the bay of communal feeling.

Such a perception is needed which enhances the confidence over
law and order. The system needs witty monitoring body.

Social security to women and girl must be provided.

Each

habitation and school must be under constant surveillance of the

law and order officials.

Adequate counseling centres for the parents particularly for

mothers must be in practice which prepares them with moral
values and needs of the day.

Anganwadis which are practiced must be provided with Urdu

speakers and Urdu teachers.

Early Child Education (E.C.E) programme of SSA must be

restarted, as it enhances the pace of admission in government
schools and declines the drop out rate.

Such evening tuitions must be scheduled in the habitation which

can prepare the future mother with pleasant blend of tradition
and talent.

According to RTE 25% of students must be admitted without

any donation and fees in the private schools.

Private schools must be accountable to the higher officials for

RTE.

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Sensible and sincere step forward hopefully get transition

Evolving Role of Women in Muslim Societies

Kaneez Fathima
Jt. Secretary
Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee,
Hyderabad.
I am presenting this paper here with my experience in the activism field.
As civil liberties activist I have observed that all women have same
problems and hurdles irrespective of caste, class, religion. Women in all
communities and societies face problems, not because of their religion
but the particular mindset of the society as a whole.
It is very easy for the people to say and generalize that women in Islam
are suppressed, marginalized, not independent, slaves, child producing
machine and what not! In fact here I would like to stress that Islam and
Muslims are two different entities. Islam as a religion does not have any
defect; it is somewhere in the Muslim community due to whom Islam is
blamed. In India they follow the majoritarian culture and implement those
on their womenfolk, for ex. dowry, marriages, education etc. Islam does
not allow taking and giving dowry but Muslims practice it; Islam stresses
on easy marriages, but Muslims complicated it; Islam obligates education
for all men and women, but till few years ago majority of Muslims did
not give importance to womens education. Otherwise if we look from the
Islamic angle, there are women in Islamic history who were educated
teachers and entrepreneurs etc. Hazrath Ayesha was a teacher and
established a Madarsa and Hazrath Khadija was a rich and successful
business woman during the time of the last prophet.
In the present time, the mindset of men is so bad that they look at women
as sex objects. You look at the advertisements, banners, posters, etc and
most recently the statements of law makers and parliamentarians, passing
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remarks and orders women such as - produce more children, wear such
and such type of clothes, do not move out during evenings alone etc.
These men do not look and treat women as human beings; no one talks
about solving the problems of victims of rape, sexual harassment, acid
attacks etc. This kind of mindset has to be changed and treat woman if
not as equal atleast as human beings.
Coming back to the topic we are discussing about mainstreaming of
Indian Muslim women, being an activist I have observed that the main
hurdle for Muslim women to move ahead is poverty. The main reason
for this is the discrimination towards the Muslim community at all levels
and sectors. It is common even at the higher educational institutions.
Take my own example, I had got admission in Ph.D at EFL University,
the administration denied leave and cancelled my admission without
intimation to me, even after courts interim order to put on hold the
admission (I work in the Library at EFLU and had applied EOL to pursue
PhD) and request to keep my admission in abeyance. In spite of these
kinds of hurdles, Muslim women are struggling hard from all aspects to
move ahead especially in the areas of education and employment.
Parents awareness to educate girl child has also increased and they are
encouraging their daughters and sending them to schools and colleges.
Muslim women are allowed to get higher education being in burqa; some
have opinion that this is a hurdle, but by all means this is taken as an
opportunity by Muslim women to gain education and employment. Even
though burqa is not a hurdle for Muslim women they consider it is their
identity and part of culture, the other part of the society have problem
with it, why?
After availing higher education, Muslim women are reaching at higher
levels. Many are politically active, are teachers, doctors, engineers,
architects, fashion designers, interior designers and many are activists as
140

well, which is inspiring women at grass root level and those women look
at these women activists as their role models and are moving ahead.
In this era of media and technology, no one can stop women from
acquiring knowledge. Muslim women are themselves coming forward in
various fields and struggling hard to be in the mainstream. Some
aspire to have own business, some aspire to be enrolled in government
sector as well as in various other sectors. In such circumstances it is the
responsibility of the government to provide all facilities so that the
Article 21 of the Fundamental Rights can be implemented in its real
spirit, i.e. Right to Life with Human Dignity which means safety and
security. For example: If a woman is working in Media/IT sector/medical
sector and returns from work at late night she should be able to reach
home without any fear and without depending on others; only then the
real spirit would be fulfilled and women can be empowered in the real
sense.
Comparing

present

Muslim

women

with

earlier

women,

the

contemporary Muslim women are more knowledgeable; possess high

spirit of struggle for their rights, knowledge of political and legal systems
etc. This is the reason that in these times you find the percentage of
educated Muslim women greater than the percentage of educated Muslim
men.
In the case of empowerment and awareness among Muslim women, I
want to present one important example from my experience as civil
liberties activist: as you all are well aware that during the years 20072008, many Muslim youth in Hyderabad were picked up, illegally
confined and tortured and later shown arrested in the false case of
Makkah Masjid bomb blast and twin blast. These were the youth from
poor family background and they were the only bread earners for their
141

family. In those bad times, the women of these youths sisters, mothers,
wives all came out and fought for the release of their kin. When we held
press conferences, demonstrations, public meetings etc. they raised their
voice against police atrocities and demanded justice for their innocent
kin. They fought to the extent that they succeeded in acquittal of false
charges against the youth, and later the government tendered an apology
to the whole Muslim community for the wrong deeds of their police
personnel.
I would like to conclude that accusing Muslim community for the
backwardness of their women is injustice; the other part of the society
which does not recognize and isolate Muslim women from the
mainstream is the major reason that they are not visible in the
mainstream. Because of discrimination at sociocultural and political
level, the contribution of Muslim Women is not completely visible. Until
and unless such kind of double standard prevails, justice cannot be done
towards Muslim community and Muslim women will not be visible in the
mainstream. The only solution is to end the discrimination. It should be
remembered by one and all that women rights are human rights.

142

Role of Media in Empowerment of Muslim Women

Rasia Nayeem Hashmi
PhD Scholar
Dept. of Women Education
rasiahashmi@yahoo.co.uk

Introduction:
Empowerment is a process aimed at changing the nature and direction of
systematic forces which marginalize women and other disadvantaged
sections in a given context. Countrys overall development depends
greatly on the inclusion of women in its development process. Hence
bringing women into the mainstream of development has been the major
concern of the government ever since India became independent. The
subjugation or subordination of women in all spheres of life, the problems
faced by them, empowerment of women, have been the subject of much
debate. India is one of the largest democracies in the world having one of
the largest minorities. A number of reports concluded that Muslims are
the most deprived and marginalised communities in India. Given that the
Indian Muslim women are called minority within minority; being a
woman on one hand and a Muslim minority on the other, the Muslim
woman faces cumulative and multiple exclusions. As stated by Hajira
Kumar in her book, Status of Muslim Women in India, The problems
and issues concerning women are like an octopus, with its many flexible
arms which entrap and suffocate its victim. In case of Indian Muslim
Women, these problems are multiplied. This is so because they share the
general problems which other Indian women face and at the same time
have their peculiar disadvantages. Muslim women are discriminated,
marginalised and oppressed because of various gender divide issues.
143

Muslim women have been suppressed by the male dominated society

taking undue advantage of their lack of education and poverty. This is
evident from the fact that although dowry is not an Islamic concept while
Muslim women is entitled to Mehr a marital gift, it was found in a study
done by this researcher that 48% of the respondents told that divorce is
the condition mostly negotiated during the process of marriage settlement
while only 25% respondents said that Mehr is negotiated during the
process. According to the report of Planning Commission of Govt. of
India, 59% Muslim women have not attended school. This shows the
poor educational status of Muslim women. However empowerment of
Muslim women is possible by creating awareness among them and
educating them through media. Since media plays a vital role in shaping
public opinions they can not only bring a change in the lives of Indian
Muslim women but can also change the attitude of millions of Indians
(including men they come in contact with) towards Muslim women.
Media can make the Muslim women realise that they also have
constitutional rights to equality, health care, economic security and access
to educational and political power.
Key issues and problems affecting Muslim women
Women continue to be the victims of exploitation, discrimination,
subjugation and abuse in home as well as outside, due to their ignorance
of the law as well as from lack of will to assert their rights. The
marginalization of Muslim women owes to a host of factors including
illiteracy, gender discrimination, male hegemony, domestic violence,
dowry harassment, abuse of certain Islamic practices against women,
womens ignorance of their rights, etc. These factors affect them
negatively and hinder mainstreaming of Muslim women.
Types of empowerment
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Empowerment of Muslim women can be discussed under the following

headings.
1.

Educational empowerment: Lack of education has been

identified by one and all as the single most important cause for
backwardness of Muslim women. There is tendency to hold back the girl
child at home to help in domestic chores and to take care of infants while
elders go out to work or in the belief that what will the girl do with
education? To remove the scourge of illiteracy among the Muslim
women, special campaigns to motivate the parents to send their children
to schools need to be launched. Education is the greatest and only weapon
through which Muslim women can rise up to claim their rightful place in
their society.
2.

Social empowerment: Media, both print and electronic, can help

women to communicate their needs. Mainstreaming of Muslim women

will not be a reality unless and until the media plays a crucial role in the
empowerment of women by creating awareness among the people to shed
the patriarchal mindset that subjugated Muslim women.
3.

Economic empowerment: Economic empowerment of women is

possible only when financial independence is achieved.

4.

Political empowerment: Muslim womans contribution in the

field of politics needs to be increased; either as an active participant in

politics to take up womens cause or as a decisive voter using her
franchise to choose a leader who ensures redressal of the situation faced
by Indian Muslim women.
Constitutional Provisions
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Muslim women should know that they have been guaranteed certain
rights by the constitution of India which includes, Right to equality, Right
to freedom, Right against exploitation, Right to freedom of religion,
Cultural and educational rights, etc.
Rights given by Islam
The issue of women in Islam is a topic of great misunderstanding and
distortion partly due to misconceptions and partly due to misbehavior of
some Muslim men which has been taken to represent the teachings of
Islam. A big gap exists between the true teachings of Islam regarding
women and their projected image in the media. Unfortunately most of the
Muslim women themselves do not know what exactly are the rights
bestowed to them by their religion. The rights of women in Islam can be
discussed under the following headings;
1.

Spiritual Rights: Islam has the concept of equal reward and

equal accountability to men and women.

2.

Economic Rights: More than 1,300 years before the west gave

economic rights to women; Islam recognised the economic rights of

women. Any woman has the right to possess or to own or to dispose any
of her own property in any way she feels fit irrespective of whether she is
single or married. During marriage, she is entitled to a marital gift (Mehr)
from the husband which is entirely hers and she does not have to give this
gift to her husband or father and she can do anything lawful with it. If a
woman earns any income from investment or work or engages in business
during her marital life, the income is entirely hers and she is not entitled
to spend a single penny on the household. She can spend it in any
legitimate manner as she may desire. In case of divorce or widowhood
there are certain financial guarantees for women like complete and full

146

support during the waiting period and thereafter; if she is pregnant, then
till childbirth. If she has any children she is entitled to child support.
3.

Social Rights: Muslim woman is entitled to right to live

(infanticide is forbidden in Islam). There should be no partiality in

bringing up of sons and daughters. She possesses the right to choose a
spouse, right to be treated like a partner with love and dignity by
husband, right to seek divorce, right to be looked after and respected by
children. The rights of husband and wife are equal in all respects except
in the aspect of leadership in the family.
4.

Educational Rights: According to Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh)

It is obligatory for every Muslim, male or female, to acquire

knowledge.
5.

Legal Rights: Men and Women are treated equally under Islamic

law.
6.

Political Rights: Both men and women are allowed and should

participate in public affairs in the interest of society.

Conclusion
Significant improvement can come in their status only when Muslim
women become aware of their social, economic and political rights
guaranteed by the constitution as well as their religion. Hence there is
need to create an awareness among Muslim women about their
fundamental rights. Media has a prime responsibility towards the
redressal of the situation faced by Indian Muslim women. However the
mainstream media can be accused of being largely indifferent to the
question of Muslim womens problems and the need for their substantive
empowerment. Why only Muslim women, media is indifferent to the
question of womens problems irrespective of religion. In a study
147

conducted by this researcher on Coverage of womens issues in four

major dailies of Hyderabad, I found that the ratio of space given to
womens issues and problems, to other issues was 16:84 and preference
was given to women in films and beauty contest. Major issue such us
education was given a back seat by giving least coverage of just 0.5%.
The image of Muslim woman portrayed in mainstream media is a
submissive stereotypical image. Special thrust on the development of
Muslim women is needed.
Addressing

Muslim

womens

empowerment

requires

strategic

interventions of media programming and policy making. Atrocities done

to the Muslim women and discrimination faced by them should be
brought to public through media. Information about the schemes run by
government is just not available at the ground level with the result that
women are unable to take advantage of them. Hence awareness regarding
such schemes must be created using electronic media as illiterate women
do not have access to print media. Campaigns should be organised by
media both print and electronic to create awareness among Muslim
women regarding their rights and also to create a social climate
favourable and susceptible to varied Muslim womens issues.
Developmental journalism can come to the rescue to highlight Muslim
womens problems and to guide them to their constitutional and religious
rights.
Media can play an importance role in empowering Muslim women by
focusing on the following points;
1.

Fill information gap.

2.

Highlight Muslim womens problems.

3.

Report news and stories from feminist perspective.

148

4.

Produce and disseminate news and information effecting

Muslim women.
5.

Raise Muslim womens awareness regarding importance of

education.
6.

Launch campaign to guide them in their constitutional, legal and

religious rights.
7.

Sensitize government and society by publishing Muslim women

oriented studies and surveys.

8.

Last but not the least! Sensitize the community about Muslim

men's role in Muslim women's issues. It may look strange but it is more
important to sensitize men on rights of women than to make women
aware of their rights; as it is the men who violate womens rights. We
should not forget that women's rights are not just about women; they are
also about men and their attitudes.
Suggestions
Gender sensitive dailies or weeklies on the lines of Khabar Lahariya and
programmes along the lines of Satyamev Jayate need to be launched to
create awareness among Muslim women regarding importance of
education, to make them aware of their constitutional, legal and religious
rights, to motivate them to participate in the development of society, to
create awareness among the people to shed the patriarchal mindset that
subjugated Muslim women and to sensitize the society on Muslim women
issues.

149