Muslims : Women : Visiting a Mosque or Dargah in India, if you are not a muslim man.
I have this information from a watermelon seller called Syed. I asked him how people of other religions could visit mosques. For eg anyone can visit a temple, a church or a gurudwara.
He said that most mosques are for muslim men only. There are some special mosques for muslim women.
And people of other religions can visit dargahs only. So I think the places I have seen are dargahs and not mosques.
I asked him how would anyone know if I was a muslim or not since everybody looks the same. He said that if a person knows the prayer and method then no one would know.
See also :
- http://qna.rediff.com/questions-and-answers/whats-the-difference-between-dargah-and-masjid/17159172/answers
- http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-mosque.htm
- http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?/topic/24251-shia-women-knock-at-mosque-door-iraq/
After looking at the third reference, where women are fighting for their rights to study the koran… an idea strikes me.
25% of the Veda Mantras were by Rishikas (Women Rishis), yet a few men today are strongly against Vedic learning for women.
The men who are preventing Vedic Learning for women seem to be following the tenets of Sunni muslims and not of the Vedas.
This revision or edit on our Dharma Sastras must have been made in the times of the muslim rule and dragged back and put in the mouths of the rishis, by the oppressed brahmins under muslim rule.
The Vedic way is freedom and knowledge.
