Photo Essay – Women Are Not Allowed Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
They say it’s the tradition.
[Text and pictures by Mayank Austen Soofi]
Women are not allowed inside Hazrat Nizamuddin Dargah, Delhi’s principal sufi shrine. While they could pray in the courtyard, the women are denied entry into the tomb-chamber of Hazrat Nizamuddin, the 14th century sufi saint. Some of the Dargah khadims The Delhi Walla talked to ascribe the practice to traditions.
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
No Women Inside Nizamuddin Dargah
To educate your already well informed readers, the reason for the no women thing is that according to islamic tradition the dead see the women naked!!!
Dont know how true this is!
no commentsss yaar but it is sad
That’s funny. Jman doesn’t know “how true it is” but feels confident enough to educate this blog’s readers with the information he is not entirely sure about himself.
And to put in my own two paisa on the topic; for me the reason behind not allowing women in a dargah has very little to do with Islamic tradition and a lot more to do with Indian tradition.
Abdu
( http://abdusalaam.blogspot.com )
Women in Islam are allowed to visit graveyards, burial places etc. I think this is an inequality that only happens in patriarchic societies. Its a reflection of cultural norms not religious values.
soofi saab… its an old post… naya material nahi mil raha kya??
Assalamualaikum all…
Well, its really bad of you Jman that you posted something like this without even being yourself confirmed about it!
Anyways, in Islam women are forbidden to visit the graves. This is evident from the Sahih Hadith (Proven tradition) of Prophet Muhammad (saw): The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) cursed women who visit graves, those who built mosques over them and erected lamps (there).
In fact, as hinted in the above Hadith and many others, even constructing tombs over graves is impermissible in Islam. Islam being a Monotheistic religion, even asking from the person in grave is a ‘major’ sin! But alas, today people have drifted far from the true Islam.
As for men visiting the graves, it is allowed but not for beseeching but rather so that men do remember the futility of this worldly life and that he too has to die one day. Both men and women can pray to Allah(swt) ‘for’ the forgiveness of the deceased in the hereafter, men either from their home or at the grave while for women only at their home.
Regards
There is no concept of Dargah in Islam; grave glorification is frowned upon.
In Islam, a grave should be made of mud, levelled to the ground; this applies to kings and to paupers.
Flowers, decorations etc. are strictly forbidden. So are prostrations to a grave.
This is a outcome of Persian influence.
Just last week in my Anthropology & Religion class, we were discussing veiling and why women aren’t allowed entry into holy places. None of us could come up with a explanation that we were 100% sure about except for this one girl who was super confident in her claim that it was because during ancient times,it was common for men to go to war against each other over a beautiful woman. So the point of veiling & barring women entry to holy places(that includes graves) has its origins in the belief that the presence of women can distract the menfolk from whatever their intended purpose is. Does that make sense? I don’t know how accurate it is.
Well, distraction from the prime purpose due to intermingling of sexes is one of the reasons for barring women from visiting graves. Other reasons being the safety of women folks, their credulous nature, family responsibilities etc.
It should be noted that women from the times of the Prophet(saw) used to offer their prayers in mosques behind the same imam (leader) along with the men. The tradition continued till very recently and can be confirmed by noticing the ubiquitous ‘zenana chamber’ in many of the ancient mosques in Delhi. If adequate purdah is possible then they can visit mosques for prayer….
….at graves, it is mostly women who get deceived into believing that the dwellers can heed to their prayers though it is only Allah(swt) alone who can grant wishes! What women were disallowed to do by visiting the graves is being done from outside the premises as shown by MAS in the pictures. The rule stays, purpose defeated!
Deviating from the original post:
India was able to sustain harmoniously both Hindus and Muslims alike not because of their fundamentalism but because of their liberal nature. That being said, there is always room for acceptance and change.
Getting back to the post:
I once took a class on Judaism. On the first day my professor asked, “Historically, who have been the most discriminated against people of all time?” Everyone raised their hands and said, “The Jews!” Our professor replied, “No, women and ugly people.” I strongly feel gender differences and biases play a pivotal role in defining do’s and don’ts for women, especially in a country like India where a women have always been subjected to very strict dimensions of courtly conduct.
sorry to tell you people that all this is pure shirk. The dead can't hear anything.