KERELA: a woman Imam for the first time in the history of India led Friday prayers in the southern state of Kerala.
34-year-old Jamida K, also known as ‘Jamida Teacher’ in her secluded village of Cherukode, Malappuram district, went against centuries of Sharia law but said she “did it knowing well the consequences it is going to have”.
The prayers were led for a mixed group of approximately 50 men and women at the central committee office of the Quran Sunnath Society which Jamida supports.
However, fundamentalists, who believe that she “defiled the religion” have threatened to eliminate Jaminda.
The Quran Sunnath Society was a movement established by Chekannur Moulavi, a radical Muslim scholar, who was believed to be murdered after he mysteriously disappeared in 1993.
Speaking about leading the Friday prayer, Jaminda said it was a male-dominated religious practice which needs to be challenged and she will continue to lead prayer alongside other women.
“We follow the [Holy] Quran. It addresses humankind as men and women and does not discriminate between them. Both men and women have an equal role in religion,” asserted the woman prayer leader.
She has also been receiving extreme backlash on social media.