co-education is unlawful-In which century are we living ?

Darul Uloom Deoband was asked to comment, by an Aligarh resident, on the provisions in Islam with regard to co-education. In response, the fatwa issued on July 1 by Darul Ifta (Darul Uloom’s unit that deals with fatwas) states that co-education is unlawful as it gives rise to evil. The Darul Uloom (Urdu: dārul ulūm devband) is an Islamic madrassa (seminary) famous for being the inception place of the Deobandi Islamic movement. It is located at Deoband, a town in Uttar Pradesh, India.

The fatwa said Muslim women must not interact with the opposite sex without hijab and co-education was unlawful because, in colleges and universities, it gave rise to evil—even if these institutions imparted religious education.

This is really the high time for Muslims to think whether they would like to follow these fatwas, As it is the level of education among Muslims in India isn’t good. Such fatwas will only add to their misery. Government can not afford to make separate medical, engineering etc colleges for girls and boys, in this case if muslims follow these fatwas, most likely muslim girls will either have to stop their education or choose to study something, which will not help them become independent. Being born a girl or boy does not differentiate two individuals on ability. These fatwas will only make gender inequality worse in our country.