Wearing the Veil in India
A sobbing woman comes to a Lalitpur hospital in northern India. She begs the doctor to perform an operation that will make it impossible for her to get pregnant again. Already mother to three daughters, the woman is terrified – if her husband knew of her hospital visit, he would kill her. “Every night my husband comes home drunk and beats all of us because he wants a son. I have failed my duty as a woman, but I will not risk bringing another girl into such misery.”*
It is a country familiar with poverty, ignorance, and disease. Why should the plight of Muslim women be given special attention? Why is their suffering any different from their Hindu neighbors?
According to government and humanitarian reports, Muslim women comprise one of the most, if not the most, vulnerable, uneducated, and impoverished minorities in India.
Think about it: a minority of 69 million women, over half under age 25.
Indian courts have ruled that Sharia law holds precedence for Muslims over Indian civil law in family and marital matters - trapping Muslim women in a system where they have no avenue to appeal for better treatment. For instance, Islam in India permits triple talaq– the traditional Islamic method for divorce, in which a man ends his marriage simply by uttering the words, ‘I divorce you’ three times to his wife. Within their communities, the only way these women earn respect or affection is by bearing children…male children.
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India is home to the 3rd largest Muslim population in the world – roughly 138 million people – although Muslims comprise just 13.4% of the country. |
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Smyrna is blessed to partner with “Dev” and “Hansa” in their dynamic ministry. This Indian couple has been sowing the Gospel for over twenty years, reaching out to Muslims living in slums, ghettoes, and rural villages (one of their lit pictured right)
“Dev” recently reported good news. He met with trainees of one of their newest women’s vocational training centers: “This morning there were 22 Muslim women with whom I shared from Psalm 16. By God’s grace, we are preparing to start an adult literacy program for Muslim women here too, as about 10 of the trainees in the current batch are completely illiterate.”
Pray for “Dev” & “Hansa” as they seek to rescue Muslim women (as well as Muslim fathers, husbands, and brothers) with the life-altering message of the Gospel.
*adapted from a report from a contact in India, Fall 2010
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