‘Women Are Like Gold Ornaments, Must Be Kept In A Box’: Grand Mufti In Kerala Sparks Fresh Controversy

Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad has sparked a fresh controversy after likening women to jewellery kept safely in a box and saying they should remain at home. The cleric said bringing women into the public sphere could cause “great destruction”.

Ahmad is known as the Grand Mufti of India. The Kerala-based Islamic scholar is also called Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musliyar. The remarks come after a separate controversial circular issued recently that asked women to stay off public platforms.

“It is precisely recognising that bringing women onto public platforms in this manner causes great destruction that Islam mandated purdah for women,” Ahmad said, according to PTI. “If the necklace has to retain its beauty, it has to be kept safely inside a box,” he said.

Public Remarks In Kochi

At an Islamic conference in Kochi, Ahmad said women should not appear in public. He added, “The Holy Quran states that women should live confined within their homes and must not make public appearances.”

He backed up the comparison with examples. Ahmad likened women to gold ornaments that should be kept safely. He also pointed to a nearby store that sold stone grinders and said those items could be left by the roadside without concern, even if passers-by walked around or over them.

By contrast, he said a gold necklace left on a roadside would be touched as people passed, slowly spoiling its appearance and lowering its value.

Circular And Criticism

The circular, issued recently, said women should stay off public platforms. The circular drew criticism from several women political leaders, Hindustan Times reported.

The Kanthapuram faction of the Samastha Kerala Jamiyyathul Ulama, the state’s premier council of Sunni-Shafi Islamic scholars, said last week that religious celebrations and programmes should remain within prescribed boundaries.

Kanthapuram said such views had been taught by knowledgeable religious scholars, especially Samastha leaders, for the past 100 years. He added that scholars who had studied the religion had a duty to speak on the issue and would keep doing so despite objections.

Who Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad

Ahmad is a leading figure in India’s Sunni Muslim community and across South Asia. He is widely known as the Grand Mufti of India, making him the 10th person to hold that title.

The title is not an official state designation. A mufti is, essentially, an expert in Islamic law. India and the wider Islamic world also have other grand muftis, whose headquarters are prominent mosques.