India: Don't work with men, Muslim clerics tell Indian women

He said that women were also dressing in western clothes, especially in the country's new shopping malls, and these often were "too revealing". "Men will gaze on them if they visit the market. It is extremely essential to cover their entire body. Better such errands are left to the men in the family," said Mr Nizamuddin.

The comments provoked anger among Muslim liberals, who say such pronouncements are an anachronism and will undermine the authority of the clergy.

Syeda Hameed, of the Muslim Women's Forum, said that the board needed to reflect a more "sane, moderate, realistic" view of the world. "There is nothing in the Qur'an or the Sharia law about these things. In fact one of the wives of the prophet was a businesswoman. Saying these things just makes Islam end up looking anti-women, which it is not."

The board, which is made up of leading Muslim clerics from all over India, carries considerable weight. Almost every mosque in the country takes its advice.

However opinion polls have shown that Indian Muslims, who have benefited less from the country's wealth and development in recent years, have become increasingly preoccupied with material matters rather than spiritual ones.

According to a poll commissioned by CNN-IBN, a news network, 69% of Indian Muslim respondents chose "livelihood issues" as the most important issue facing the community. Only 4% said religion.

Academics say that although India has many prominent Muslims in Bollywood and in sports, this has masked the community's relative decline in the country. Professor Pratap Bhanu Mehta, of Delhi's Centre for Policy Research, said that for "all the visibility of Muslim film stars and cricketers, there is considerable evidence to suggest that independent India has done a bad job of integrating Muslims into the mainstream of politics".

Randeep Ramesh and Sanjay Jha
Friday February 3, 2006
The Guardian