A recent YouTube video clip of Hefazat-e-Islam chief Shah Ahmed Shafi has created much outrage in social networking sites. In the video, Shafi told to his followers not to educate girls after the primary level, to keep them at home and not to let women become financially independent.
Shafi justified the rampant incidents of sexual harassment and violence against women, saying such things would keep happening as long as they go outside their homes, either for studies, work or shopping. Contacted for comments, the secretary general of the Islamist group, Junaid Babunagari said the video was “fabricated.”
He claimed that the video was a plot to disrepute Shafi. “He has never preached any such sermon,” Babunagari said.
However, in the video Shafi’s lips are in sync with the audio. It has not yet been identified when and where the Hefazat leader delivered the sermon. One Akash Malik uploaded the video on July 6. According to the scroll information, it was distributed by Al-Arab Enterprise of 46 Madrasa Market, Hathazari in Chittagong.
Shafi in his lecture said his statements were quoted from the Qur'an and that he was following the directives of Almighty Allah.
He quoted Sura Ahazab: “The Quran says: You [women] should stay at your home…Your duty is to stay at the husband’s house and safeguard property. Your primary duty is to stay home and look after your family and children only. Do not go out even for shopping.”
Shafi asked the men to educate girls only up to class four or five. He said the girls need only that much education just to be able to handle the accounts of their husbands’ earnings.
Quoting the same verse from the Qur'an, a legal expert of the Islamic Foundation, Mufti Abdullah said: “The Quran does not prohibit women from going outside. It just tells women to be decent.”
Shafi is the principal of Hathazari Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam, the madrasa that provides Qawmi certificates. Formed in 2010, Hefazat has been protesting the country’s women development and education policies, terming them “anti-Islamic.”
Hefazat resurfaced in February this year in their protest “to protect Islam from the hands of atheists,” particularly those who were leading the mass movement against the war criminals at Shahbagh in Dhaka and elsewhere. They placed a 13-point list of demands that included the formulation of a blasphemy law to execute those who demean Islam, and imposing restrictions on the mingling of men and women in public.
When the demands sparked public rage, Hefazat revised its demand centring women. They said they were not against women leaving their homes or working but wanted for them to wear veils and walk decently.
The recent video, which has found its way to social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, has created outrage among many. Bangla blogs equally very vocal on the issue. Several women’s rights groups and activists have protested the remarks.
In such Islamic waz (religious lectures), clerics explain the Qur'an and Hadiths to the audience, most of whom are illiterate Muslims. However, in some cases, they speak against the current trend of women’s lifestyles seen mainly in the cities and towns.
Many people speaking against Shafi’s remarks are demanding that he be punished for presenting a “wrong explanation of the Qur'an” and demeaning women. Some have asked the government and Islamic scholars to explain Shafi’s comments.
“Irrespective of one’s sexual identity, education or profession, being knowledgeable is a priority in the Quran and this so-called Islamic preacher is portraying Islam in a wrong way,” said one Facebook status.
An organiser of “Bangladesh for One Billion Rising,” a worldwide campaign against violence against women, Trimita pointed out that the speech was nothing but a “mockery to Islam.”
In the clip, Shafi also raised issue of working women’s character, saying families where both the husband and wife earned an income could not be united because of those women who “earn money through adultery.”
He went on to say women were like tamarinds, a common tart fruit. “If one sees a tart fruit, he will drool. Am I right or not? Women are worse than tamarinds. You look at women your heart will drool.”
Article 28(2) of the Constitution of Bangladesh states women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the state and public life.
