The “transgression” was somewhat unique: 20 kilometres from the capital of Uttar Pradesh, the 20-odd women offered “Jumma-ki-namaz” along with men at a mosque. And they pledged to come back every week till they transform it into a mosque exclusively for women.

The initiative was taken by Shaista Amber, president of the All-India Muslim Women’s Personal Law Board (AIMWPLB), who had earlier demanded a separate mosque for women. Muslim clerics and the Darul Uloom seminary at Deoband had reacted sharply to her request, saying Muslim women cannot act as Imams and should offer prayers inside their houses.

On Friday, some of the women travelled over 30 kilometers, braving the scorching heat to offer prayers. “We have not come for entertainment. We follow all Islam’s rules meant for women, but nobody can take away the right from us to offer namaz in a mosque,” said Salma Bano, 45, who came all the way from Malihabad, against the wishes of her own family. “If necessary, we will travel the same distance every Friday,” she declared.

Shaista Amber is confident that the number of women will only increase every week. “If women can go to Haj and offer namaz there, there is nothing un-Islamic in doing it here.”

“Women have the equal right to invoke Allah in a mosque, and we soon plan to have a woman maulvi or Imam to conduct namaz here,” said Amber.

Expressing his displeasure over the development, Sunni cleric Maulana Khalid Rashid Firangi Mahali said: “Men get divine blessings when they offer namaz in a mosque, while women get similar blessings when they offer namaz in their houses.”

There is a practical approach to this rule, he said. “One is supposed to offer namaz five times a day. It is not feasible for a woman to lock her house each time to offer namaz in a mosque.”

A woman is allowed to pray in a separate corner of a mosque if she is unable to reach home by the time of namaz, but “a system of offering regular namaz at a mosque by women is unacceptable”, he added.