A fatwa to end all fatwas
During and after my recent angioplasty in hospital, I was surrounded by cheerful female nurses and both male and female doctors. In fact, the angioplasty was carried out under the supervision of a confident and smartly dressed female cardiologist (who is head of the cardiac unit in one of the city’s major hospitals).
Suddenly, on my fourth day at the hospital, I almost died of shock when I woke up to find a tall, slim woman doctor completely covered in black from head to toe (with only a slit for the eyes to see), peering at my semi-naked body. I thought I had passed away and gone to some place where all virgins are dressed like that. Then she introduced herself. I wanted to ask her what the hell she was doing, touching the body of a male patient, when women dressed like her should not come within five feet of a male stranger. Mercifully, the male doctor who was her boss sensed how I felt and asked her to leave.
I refer to this incident because the Deobandi Ulema in India have issued a fatwa to end all fatwas: “Women should not work alongside men, and if they do, they should be completely veiled”. I didn’t know there were people like that in India, but apparently there are.
With women advancing in every field, and Pakistan itself having female army officers and air force pilots, here are some nuts trying to attract attention to themselves by issuing strange edicts which everyone will ignore.
I won’t say much, except that when you force half the population to look like black ninjas, you can’t progress at all.
www. chowrangi.com
May 13th, 2010 by Shakir Lakhani
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