“No more men?”: Top Gujarat cleric denounces Muslim women in elections

Ahmedabad:

Those who select Muslim women to run for office are against Islam and weakening the religion, the chief cleric of the Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad said in a stunningly misogynistic commentary on Sunday, a day before the second phase of Gujarat’s elections.

“When you talk about Islam, see that in this religion there is nothing more important than namaz. Have you seen any women here who read the namaz? If it were good for women in Islam to appear before everyone, they would not be stopped from doing this,” Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui told ANI news agency.

“They are prevented from coming to mosques to read the namaz because women have a certain position in Islam. Therefore, those who give election tickets to Muslim women are rebelling against Islam,” said the Shahi Imam.

“Are there no more men you bring in women? This weakens our religion. Weakens how? If you make your female MLAs and councillors, we will not be able to defend the hijab,” he said, referring to the controversy in Karnataka. worn over the headscarf by some Muslim women.

#WATCH | Those who give election tickets to Muslim women are against Islam and weaken the religion. Are there no more men?: Shabbir Ahmed Siddiqui, Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad#Gujaratpic.twitter.com/5RpYLG7gqW

— ANI (@ANI) December 4, 2022

Completely unaware of the blatant sexism in his statements, he continued with a smirk and seeking confirmation: “To hold elections, one must meet people from door to door, both Hindus and Muslims… That is why I am firmly against it. You can give election tickets to men.”

“The reason they give women tickets is because women have more say these days. So if you let women in, the whole family comes in too. I don’t see any reason other than this,” said Siddiqui.

The cleric’s fundamentalist diatribe comes a day before voting in 93 constituencies in Gujarat, the second phase of a closely watched state election that sees the ruling BJP, Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Congress plunge into a three-way battle.

Muslims make up about 10 percent of the state’s approximately 6.4 crore people, but Muslim women have almost no representation in the legislature – a statistic that is also mirrored at the national level.