Views Misunderstood
Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi is feeling the heat. It wasn’t that long ago that he boldly said: “Mixing between the sexes is just natural and there is no good reason to ban it” and ”I still hold to the view I expressed on gender segregation, and I won’t go back on it, and I’ll continue to repeat what I wrote.” He also had bold views on congregational prayers. But now, with hate mails, death threats and a protest demonstration outside his house recently, Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi had to come forward to carify, what he called, a misunderstanding of his views.
Accusation On Mingling Of Sexes
During the recent protest outside his home, Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi was accused of allowing the mingling of sexes and condoning promiscuity. Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi said: “This is a false accusation. I have only presented my view on this matter. I never called for any mingling of sexes. What I said was that women are allowed to go out to meet their own needs and that of society while wearing a veil or a lose overcoat or any other decent dress without creating any suspicion or jostling with men, because they need to go out for education and work. There is nothing wrong for women to go out for such purposes. It has been approved by the Shariah and renowned scholars.”
Mufti Of Egypt
Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi, chief of the Mecca branch of Saudi Arabia’s religious police and a top cleric, said: “There are other scholars like Sheikh Ali Jumah, the mufti of Egypt, who holds the same view.” Last year, the mufti of Egypt, referring to the coed policy introduced for the new King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) said: “There is no harm in co-education between male and female students within Sharia rules and within a learning environment. This is permissible according to Sharia. In early Islamic practices and thereafter, the mere presence of men and women in the same place was not forbidden in itself. It is also permissible for a man to speak to an unrelated woman to ask her about issues if they are of public benefit.”
Under what circumstances then does it become forbidden for male and female to co-mingle? Sheikh Ali Jumah said: “It is forbidden in a social setting if there are violations of the Sharia, such as women revealing parts that ought not to be seen according to Sharia, or if gatherings are conducted to practice a vice (munkar), or if there is illicit seclusion (khulwa).”
Accusation On Corporate Prayers
The press had earlier interviewed and reported Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi as saying that Muslims do not need to attend congregation prayer every day. Rather, they need to do so only on Fridays, and that they should pray privately on other days. And Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi also questioned the need to close shops during prayer times.
Now Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi is disputing this. He said: “But some people misunderstood my statement and they claimed that I had called for the offering of the five daily prayers at home. This is a false accusation and a big mistake on their part. I have never said that people should not pray in mosques.”
So what exactly did Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi say: He said: ”While emphasizing the importance of congregational prayer I said we should not brand as infidels those who perform it at home with or without a reason. It should not be considered a sin but they will surely lose the reward of congregational prayer.”
Outcome Of Misunderstanding
Sheikh Ahmed bin Qassim al-Ghamidi said that he and his family have been receiving all kinds of threats. One rumor even said that he has been disowned by his own Ghamidi tribe. He has also been called an infidel and an atheist. And his car and the wall of his house have been sprayed with messages of hate and death threats. He has also received such threatening SMS messages.
Think About It
The main controversy appears to be that of Saudi Arabia’s own interpretation of Islamic laws, which embraces strict sex segregation. King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is attempting to relax this, and he has initiated such a move with the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), where male and female students now study together. But the ultraconservative clerics are not accepting this, although, it seems, that Islam itself permits co-mingling of sexes within Sharia law. Can King Abdullah bin Abdujl Aziz succeed in effecting change to Saudi Arabia’s sex segregation law?
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