The other side of the Ajmer controversy

By Warisha Farasat

The recent controversy over permitting women to enter the dargah (shrine) in Ajmer, speaks to the gradual reforms shaping male dominated religious institutions. Resistance to reform is not a new phenomenon. Different religious institutions around the world keenly resist change. Does the repeal of the ban signal a significant change? The story of the Ajmer dargah is intriguing. It encompasses complex realities, which are often contradictory. At first glance, it is similar to any male dominated religious institution in India. Looking deeper, it holds a few surprises.

Dargah

Lying at the foothills of the Taragarh hills, it houses the mausoleum of one of the most revered Sufi saints of all times. ‘Garib Nawaz,’ as he is fondly called, attracts people from all religions and regional backgrounds. Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti came to Ajmer from Persia in 1192 A.D. and lived here until he died in 1236 A.D. Although Iltamash, the Sultan of Delhi, started the construction of the shrine, the structure witnessed the largesse of various rulers over the centuries. Emperor Humayun completed the construction of the main tomb. In the late fifteenth century, Sultan Gyasuddin of Malwa built the main dome of the shrine.

Resplendent with three mosques, the Akbari Masjid the Jama Masjid and the Sandali masjid, besides the �rcot Dalan and the Langar Khana, the chronicles of the shrine have become a part of the local folklore. Walking through the silver laid Jannati Darwaza, the experience is one of absorbing and reliving history. ‘Whether it was Dara Shikoh or a present day politician, they have all prostrated in front of this king of kings’, exclaimed a khadim.

Jannati Darwaza

However, a little known fact is the women mausoleums. Most visitors to the shrine are unaware of the existence of the ‘Mazar of Bibi Hafiz Jamal’ or even that of ‘Bibi Saheba’, the wife of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. One of the reasons cited for the invisibility of these important sites within the shrine is the overwhelming demand by the guests to visit the main shrine. The other is neglect on part of the khadims to inform the guests of these central women figures.

Khadims

Khadims, or servers trace their roots to the closest followers of the Khwaja, who served and befriended him during his lifetime. Their history is inextricably linked to that of the dargah. Their duties include performing religious and spiritual functions, escorting guests to the dargah and assisting them with their stay during the visit. Additionally, they manage the administration, maintenance and the donations of the shrine. The present khadim community comprises of about five thousand persons.

Immensely proud of their lineage, the dedication amongst this community is laudable. Democratically elected, the Anjuman Committee consists of twenty-one khadims that serve for a period of three years. It is a close-knit community wherein most marriages occur within the community. It is however, disturbing that the committee comprises wholly of male members, and the role of the women is limited to cooking and attending to the guests at home. While it was unimaginable for the community to send their daughters for higher education, things are slowly but surely changing now.

Controversy

On expressing skepticism about attitudinal changes with regard to women within the community or the shrine, the khadims are quick to defend their position. Describing the current incident wherein a ban was proposed on women performing the Friday prayers by one of the khadims, they disassociated themselves with the concerned khadim, and blamed the media for exaggerating the events. One of the khadims explains the official policy of the dargah committee, “We have allowed women to pray at the dargah for years now. Is that discriminatory?� Even now most mosques in North India do not provide space for women to pray. The Chistia order allocated a separate section for women within the shrine years ago.

Aggravated by the recent onslaught on the dargah management, they elucidate on the details of the incident. The dargah is enormously crowded on Friday afternoons with rows of people spilling out on the streets. To avoid confusion, the women are allocated a separate section to perform the prayers. However, the entrance to the women’s section passes through rows of men waiting to pray. On one such congested Friday afternoon, a woman was struggling to reach the women’s section through the men’s rows. She was stopped by a khadim as the prayers had already begun. The argument turned violent and the woman hit the khadim who in turn mistreated the woman.

Subsequently, he proposed a ban on women passing through the rows of men offering prayers on Fridays to reach the women’s section. When the media and women’s groups took up the issue, the committee officials rolled back the clause. They claim that the clause was misconstrued. The purpose was not to ban women from offering prayers but sought only to restrict them from passing through rows of men to avoid confrontation. The opinion amongst the khadim committee and community members continues to be divided on this issue. The proposal that women should be allocated a separate space in the mosque is acceptable to most members of the community.

Ajmer Dargah

While some consider that there are no provisions in Islam for jamaat (congregational prayer) for women, others believe that in a place like the Ajmer dargah conservatism has no place. Explaining how women travel from various parts of India and sometimes abroad to offer prayers at the shrine, they think that it would be unfair to ban them. Denying women the right to perform the Friday prayers would be against the history and ethos of the dargah. At this juncture, the khadims narrate the story of the Begami Dalaan, which was constructed with the sole purpose of facilitating women belonging to the royal family access to the dargah.

Further, the committee has imposed a sanction on the khadim who had proposed the ban. The committee has boycotted the khadim, which is a form of disciplinary action. It entails that he would be unable to accompany guests to the shrine or partake of the common earnings at the end of the month. The khadims are expected to deposit their daily earnings with the committee, which at the end of each month is divided equally between them.

Sama or devotional songs is an important part of the Indian Sufis, performance of Qawwali remains an important part of dargahs of South Asia. The forte of singing qawwalis continues to be the stronghold of the men belonging to the Chisti clan. Recently, a woman Sufi singer from Pakistan, Maria Balocha was interrupted midway and asked to stop singing at the shrine. The opposition was justified on grounds of tradition rather than religion. While the committee overturned the proposed ban on Friday prayers for women, there were no dissenters on the qawwali issue. Despite this episode, the dargah continues to evolve as an inclusive and dynamic institution that has given progressive decisions on issues of culture and religion.

Community service

Community service is an integral part of the management of the shrine. Donations are utilized for maintenance of the shrine, distributing free food at the langars, performing qawwalis and managing madrasas for children. Though the traditional cauldrons are used to cook only during the urs, meals are provided to the hungry every morning and evening at the dargah. As part of community service, the committee runs the school ‘Khwaja Osmania’ that provides free education not only to children of the khadims but also others from the locality. They administer numerous madrasas, which impart religious education to children from different parts of India.

The Ajmer dargah story reiterates that nothing is black or white. In India, the struggle for women to carve greater spaces within Islam has been an uphill task. But the dargah’s democratic and often liberal functioning challenges the stereotypes and the mainstream discourse that has developed around Muslim Women’s Rights in India. It underscores that one must look beyond the Shah Bano judgment, its effective repeal through promulgation of the Muslim Women (Protection) Act of 1986, the Zahira case and the weak Nikahnama approved by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board to understand the layers of rights and denials that exist simultaneously.

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Warisha Farasat is a young lawyer based in New Delhi.

Link:

Ajmer Dargah: official website.