While Jannah B’int Hannah and Asra Nomani have been actively campaigning for an end to sex segregation (or physical separation) in mosques in Washington DC and West Virginia respectively, over in Saudi Arabia a prominent cleric has just issued a fatwa calling for the death sentence for those whom he described as “modernisers” who refused to abandon such an idea.
Saudi cleric Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak issued a fatwa saying that the mixing of genders at workplace or in education is prohibited. But why the prohibition? Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak explains that such mixing of gender allows “sight of what is forbidden, and forbidden talk between men and women.”
This explanation is similar to that given by Syed Burmi, imam of the Islamic Society of Western Maryland who said: “If I stand next to a lady or a woman stands next to me, maybe the focus will change and no longer be on God the Almighty.”
But is this such a serious offense as to warrant the death penalty? Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak said: “Whoever allows this mixing allows forbidden things, and whoever allows them is an infidel, and this means defection from Islam. Either he retracts or he must be killed, because he disavows and does not observe the Shariah,”
Then he added: “Anyone who accepts that his daughter, sister or wife works with men or attend mixed-gender schooling cares little about his honor and this is a type of pimping.”
Think about it. Aren’t those strong words used by Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak to describe the “modernisers” calling for an end to sex segregation? Words like “infidel”, “defection from Islam”, “disavows…the Shariah”, “pimping”, etc. On the other hand, these so-called “modernisers” are succeeding to some extent, like in America, Kuwait and even in some aspects in Saudi Arabia. Is Shaikh Abdul-Rahman al-Barrak right to issue that fatwa calling for the death penalty for the “modernisers” who refuse to give up the idea of ending sex segregation? Will any Saudi government agency enforce this edit? If not, does it mean that the Saudi government does not consider these “modernisers” as infidels who have defected from Islam?
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USA – Muslim Women Question Sex Segregation In Mosque Prayer Hall
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