“The fatwa, as it appears, is directed to keep the Muslims as a backward community.”
“Indian Muslims oppose coed fatwa,” by Shaikh Azizur Rahman in the Washington Times (thanks to Sr. Soph):
CALCUTTA “” Indian Muslim leaders are uniting with female students in opposition to a “fatwa” or Islamic edict demanding that Muslim girls stay away from academic institutions where boys are studying.
The order, issued by the influential theological school of Darul Uloom Deoband in northern India last week, said coeducation should be banned in schools, colleges, universities and even religious schools because it creates the potential for many evils.
But in an unprecedented display of solidarity, many Muslim leaders have joined with female students across India to oppose the edict, charging that it is detrimental to the real development of Muslim society.
“Right now, all across the country, Muslims are sending their children to study in schools and universities,” said Muslim community leader Akhtar Alvi, professor at Jamia Milia Islamia University in New Delhi.
“In a never-seen-before phenomenon, Muslim girls are coming forward for higher studies in droves, and this fatwa stands against them. The fatwa, as it appears, is directed to keep the Muslims as a backward community.”