Daily Times

Sir: Certain clerics have reportedly issued a fatwa against the mixed-gender funeral congregation offered for the late Asma Jahangir. The religious edict has also ‘nullified’ the marriages of those who attended it.  Mixed-gender prayers and funerals are very much in accordance with Islamic teachings and have been offered before as well. Islamic scholar Amina Wadud has also led several mixed-gender prayers in the US.  Though it has never happened before in Pakistan, I believe we should celebrate it as a victory of Asma’s legacy and activism.

Clerics should worry about their own funeral, not Asma’s.

ABDUL JABBAR

Gujrat

Published in Daily Times, February 19^th 2018.