File photo of the Holy Kaaba in Saudi Arabia's Mecca.

BAREILLY: After Union minority affairs minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said that the Haj Committee of India might consider the recommendation of allowing women aged over 45 years to make the pilgrimage without their close male relatives if they are travelling in groups of four or more, Sunni Barelvi clerics here criticised the move, calling it “un-Islamic”. Clerics said that the motive of the authorities was to "make women work against Sharia".

Mufti Mohammed Salim Noori, spokesperson of Dargah Aala Hazrat said, “It is mandatory for women to be accompanied by the husband or any other male blood relation. If women go alone on Haj, they will end up committing a sin, which is the motive of the authorities. As Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam, it should be done according to Sharia and women cannot go without mehram (close male blood relation).”

Naqvi had made the announcement on Saturday after a Haj review committee, headed by a retired IAS officer Afzal Amanullah, handed him the new policy report listing several recommendations. The Union minister had said that some recommendations might be implemented from next year. Terming it “progressive”, Naqvi had said that the Haj Committee of India might consider allowing women aged above 45 years to travel in groups of four or more without their mahrams.

Calling the policy un-Islamic, Mufti Mohammed Jameel Khan at Darul Ifta of Dargah Aala Hazrat said, “Women should consider Islamic rules instead of following changes introduced by politicians. As the country has majority of Sunni Muslims within the community, the government should draft the policy after contacting leaders belonging to all denominations.”

Maulana Shahbudin Razvi, national general secretary, Jamat Raza-e-Mustafa said, “It is prohibited in Islam for women to go on Haj without mehram. We will write to Naqvi and ask him not to give permission to women to go on Haj alone.”

