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Aboobacker Musalyar, Kerala Muslim Scholar, Says Gender Equality 'Against Islam'

Shocker: 'Women Only Fit To Deliver Children,' Says Top Kerala Muslim Scholar
Medina. December 08, 2007. Â Â Group leader and guide Syed Ali (Cq), center, directs a group of 160 Indian Muslim women from Kerala visiting the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. (Photo by Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Irfan Khan via Getty Images
Medina. December 08, 2007. Â Â Group leader and guide Syed Ali (Cq), center, directs a group of 160 Indian Muslim women from Kerala visiting the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina. (Photo by Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

An influential Sunni Muslim leader in Kerala, Kanthapuram AP Aboobacker Musalyar, has decried reservations for women in elections arguing that "they (women) were only fit to deliver children," and that “Gender equality is something which is never going to be a reality. It is against Islam, humanity and intellectually wrong.”

Musalyar, the chief of All India Sunni Jamiyyathul Ulama, made his remarks at a camp of the Muslim Students Federation (MSF) in Kozhikode. On a separate occasion, he had said that the 50% reservation of seats for women in civic polls was “too high” but retracted it when it became controversial.

Referring to the ongoing debates over allowing girls and boys to share seats in colleges, Musalyar said it was “part of a calculated move to destroy Islam and culture.”

He also dismissed recent allegations regarding sexual exploitations at madrasas and asked those who raised allegations to bring evidence to prove it.

A controversy had erupted recently after a woman journalist wrote an account on her Facebook wall about the alleged sexual abuse of young boys and girls in madrassas. She faced a volley of abuses on social networks.

Muslim women in Kerala have among the highest literacy rates in the country and members of the community are also an influential political force in the state's electoral demographics.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.