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Ajmer, a city in the Indian state of Rajasthan, is the site of the tomb of a Sufi holy man, Moinuddin Chishti. Namaaz is Islamic prayer. Those who want to ban women from the shrine are probably heeding the ancient dictum that "Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)" -- which nettled Muhammad's wife Aisha (Bukhari, vol. 1, bk. 9, no. 490).
Sharia Alert from Ummah News, with thanks to Mathew:
Ajmer - The Khadims, traditional servers, of the Sufi shrine in Ajmer have decided to ban women from the dargah at the time of prayers as they purportedly distract men.Several Islamic saints including Moinuddin Chishti, the Sufi saint of the Ajmer dargah, may have advised complete equality for women, but their present day religious heirs seem reluctant to follow them.
The dargah in Ajmer symbolises tolerance and spiritual solace for millions. However, in a letter to the Dargah Committee, the Khadims claim that under Islam if a man sees a woman while performing namaaz, it becomes a futile exercise.
"We have a lot of rush at the time of namaaz, and we hardly have any space left particularly during the Friday prayers."
"But if a woman sits in front, then the man's prayer becomes unacceptable. That is why we have raised this demand," says Zahoor Chishti, Joint Secretary, Khadim Association, Ajmer Dargah.
Posted by Robert at June 15, 2006 7:22 AM
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Why is it Allah did not give Muslim men the ability to control their sexual urges, whether it be for a dog, a donkey or a woman?
Posted by: JanuaryMan![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 15, 2006 8:17 AM
"the Khadims claim that under Islam if a man sees a woman while performing namaaz, it becomes a futile exercise."
-- from the article above
And that's true too. Sometimes.
Yeats has a poem on the theme:
Politics
"In our time the destiny of man presents its meanings in political terms."
Thomas Mann
"How can I, that girl standing there,
My attention fix
On Roman or on Russian
Or on Spanish politics,
Yet here's a travelled man that knows
What he talks about.
And there's a politician
Who has read and thought,
And maybe what they say is true
Of war and war's alarms,
But O that I were young again
And held her in my arms."
Yeats gave an example of the problem, of his problem and not only his, but did not think, and Western man does not insist, that women should be banned -- from prayers or from the classroom or the lecture hall. Men, instead, are required to learn to concentrate, to exercise self-restraint, to put themselves above and beyond, when necessary, that alluring power to madden or distract.
That self-restraint, that ability to subsume or sublime, is what helps distinguish the civilized from the primitive. It's the distance traversed from the clubbing caveman to the troubadour or suave sonneteer. In short, civilization is partly a matter of patience.
at June 15, 2006 12:18 PM
In order to have meaningful self-restraint, you need to have a self, not just, as in Islam, a weltering vortex of passions -- whose superego is the supremely amoral abyss symbolized as Allah -- harnessed by a collective mass psychosis in turn structured by a grotesque deformation of the tension of existence into a relentlessly inculcated jihad between hell and paradise, with the corollary deformation of humanity and its Cosmos into the perennially eschatological battlefield.
In such a culture as described above, the small, still voice of the self, masterfully and tenderly developed in the West, doesn't stand a chance.
Posted by: Television at June 15, 2006 1:33 PM
Khwazha Moinuddin Chishti is typically held up in India as the ultimate icon of that glorious beast - "Moderate Islam". His taqiyya value cannot be understated - his followers included the Moghul emperor Akbar, and India's current president Dr Abdul Kalaam. And Ajmer is the only place in Rajasthan (i.e. Rajputana) that has anything sacred to Muslims; otherwise, the state is an Islam free zone.
Given all that, this story is intriguing. However, if that turns women off this shrine, and hopefully, away from Islam, it's a welcome development.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at June 15, 2006 7:53 PM
Robert
I was re-reading the Frontpage magazine symposium that you were on some weeks ago with Salim Mansour, Srdja Trikivic and Thomas Haidon. There, Salim Mansour cited the above place as one of the landmarks of what he dubbed "Unofficial Islam".
Looks like Unofficial Islam has no way - unofficial or official - of keeping out official Islam.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at June 16, 2006 12:46 PM
The real reason that they don't want women is because they like an all male environment, nudge nudge! Of course you get a lot of Muslim males in an enclosed space the inevitable happens. Long flapping pyjamas inevitably get lifted up as they revert quickly to the roots of their religion!
Posted by: IceDragon at June 16, 2006 5:10 PM
AssalamAlykum
Dear Brothers n Sisters
I m from Ajmer Sharif n belong to the Khadim community ,I was abroad from last few years for my higher education . I have just returned back to Ajmer Sharif and unfortunately an ugly incident had occured due the insane statement of an illitrate individual S.F.Hassan Chishty .Let me clarify to you all that Islam does not make any gender bais against its followers n worshippers . Islam consider both men n women equal in all the aspects of life .This individual is not even a member of our officialy elected body - The Anjuman Society .He just wanted some cheap publicity as some media persons where present in the dargah compound .
Taking very strict action against this insane n illitrate individual our Anjuman commitee with the full support of the Khadim community has outcaste n banned him for two months starting from today during which he can't perform any religious activity in the Holy Shrine of Khawaja Saheb ,Ajmer Sharif .
I appeal to all media persons n my concerned brother n sisters to help in whatever way they can to project the true picture n understandings.
May Allah always smile upon you all ,Ameen.
Peace
Syed Salman Chishty
Chishty Manzil
Ajmer Sharif
salmanchishty@hotmail.com
at June 16, 2006 6:23 PM
Typographical and orthographic jihad from Salman chishty?
Posted by: Television at June 16, 2006 7:15 PM
"Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of the praying people)"
I assume it's any one of these, rather than all three travelling together, as the wording seems to imply.
How close do they need to be? Do they need to be visible to the people praying, or could they be behind a fence or wall? Why only these creatures, and not pigs, apes, and so on?
Or am I looking for logic where there is inherently only illogical gibberish?
at June 16, 2006 7:38 PM
Aardvark-
You should hear what they say about aardvarks!
("Earth pig" in Dutch.)
If one of them were ever to enter Mecca, Muslims would be forced to have to rebuild the entire city, stone by stone, -with their right hands, only.
I say we parachute a herd of them into the Ka'aba next Friday night!
Posted by: profitsbeard at June 16, 2006 10:31 PM
Holyheck ! This site is frequented by a lot of muslims. Clarifications from a khadim himself !
Posted by: arjun.sevak at June 17, 2006 12:15 AM
Don't worry, arjun. We are veterans when it comes to combatting taqiyya artists - we've handled bigger ones like Mohideen, defenderofislam, Naseem, et al.
Salman
Assuming that you aren't trying to pull a fast one on us here when you claim that "Islam consider both men n women equal in all the aspects of life", you might find this interesting.
Posted by: Infidel Pride at June 17, 2006 1:54 AM
Infidel Pride:
I wanted to thank you for posting the link to that symposium.
It was a fabulous read, very enlightening.
I'm rather new to JW & DW, and even through all my reading here, I had never stumbled upon that before.
I wanted you and everyone else who posts here to know - please don't ever stop posting links to such articles, simply b/c you think everyone's already read or seen them. I'd imagine there are ppl new to the site here everyday who NEED to see such things, so don't ever stop linking us to such articles.
Thank you,
JenBee
at June 17, 2006 12:21 PM
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