While the recent death by suicide of Ayesha Banu, a 23-year-old woman from Ahmedabad, allegedly due to dowry harassment, shocked many, the cry against dowry is becoming shriller in Hyderabad, with the clergy, activists and residents, raising their voice in public against the social evil.
All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) member Dr. Asma Zehra termed the suicide a “collective negligence of the Muslim community”, which demanded immediate introspection. In a statement, she said that dowry is a sin, and impermissible in Islam.
“We have to look at the forms of dowry as well. The jode ki raqam, and the lavish weddings we see these days, the expenses of which have to be borne by the bride’s side, are also an issue,” Dr. Zehra, chief organiser of the Women’s Wing of AIMPLB, said. “Marriages should be made simple and easy according to the Sunnah of the holy Prophet,” she said.
Dr. Zehra underscored that meher (dower) is more important. The meher , she opined, is the right of the wife and provides financial security to women. She rued that domestic violence which women face does not have a proper redressal system in place.
A two-day online All India Muslim Women Convention, beginning on March 6, is scheduled to tackle among other issues, dowry as a social evil, she said.
Meanwhile, the Jamiat Ahle Hadees Hyderabad and Secunderabad (JAHHS) has intensified its campaign against dowry. According to president of JAHHS Maulana Shafiq Alam Khan Jamai, the Jamiat has consistently taken an anti-dowry campaign. With Ms. Bano’s death, Friday sermons at some of the mosques in the control of JAHHS have reiterated the evils of asking for dowry.
“On Friday, at the Masjid-e-Mohammadia in Langar Houz, I spoke strongly against the evil of demanding dowry. Similarly, while solemnising a nikah, I made the same point. Soon, we are going to have a meeting of all organisations to chart a path on how to tackle this menace,” Shafiq said.
Another prominent religious leader Maulana Jafar Pasha also spoke against dowry.
