Sajjad Nomani says girls should not be allowed to go to college alone

Maulana Sajjad Nomani, an influential name in Indian Islamic circles, a scholar and spokesperson of All India Muslim Personal Law Board, said in one of his addresses during Ramzan, “do not send girls to school/college alone. It is haram (forbidden)”.

A snippet of one of these videos is circulating on social media where he says that girls should not be sent to colleges and schools alone and those parents who send their daughter alone, should be sentenced to Jahannum (hell).

He said that it does not matter even if the daughter is wearing a hijab and going to college, she is not to be left unaccompanied. “Even if you have to send your girls to college, meet the college Principal and request them to inform you whether she attended all classes or she bunked classes and went somewhere else.”

“If you are a father, a Muslim, then it is forbidden for you to be careless about your daughters,” he added.

These statements are probably stemming from the hijab controversy or even the rise in numbers of Muslim women enrolling in higher studies. According to the government’s All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for 2020-21 Muslim women were higher in number compared to Muslim men in undergraduate courses and other degrees, diplomas, and certificates. This is a percentage of women already enrolled in higher studies and does not speak of the entire muslim women population. As per the 2011 census, female literacy rate among Muslims was only about 52%.

While these statements from him are grossly misogynistic and aim to kill whatever agency Muslim women have, he is known to make controversial statements. Last year in June while speaking at an event in Jaipur, on the hijab controversy, he said, “In Udupi, Mysore, Bengaluru, girls’ hijabs were pulled, try to do the same in Rajasthan and pull women’s veil”.

In 2021 when the Taliban took over Afghanistan, he celebrated the fact and congratulated the Taliban. No wonder he celebrated the Taliban taking over Afghanistan since he endorses their view that a woman must be accompanied by a man when in public.