Adding on to Mahsa's and Mir Sanaullah's posts:
The heavy Pardah imposed on the women within Ehsaan Manzil, especially preceding Irfan-ul-Haq's family, seems to ooze sexuality. The implications of a male-- whether he be a mahram or a non-mahram-- setting sight on the women of the family seem to point to disastrous consequences-- is it just to follow Islamic regulations or is it the fear of uncontainable sexuality? In the subcontinent, generally women are an entity whose sanctity needs to be protected to uphold the virtue of 'their' men but in Ehsaan Manzil there seems to be a need for this to be more severely implemented.
Mir Sanaullah and Mahsa shared the ideas of incest and the severity of Pardah; I will share another glaring example of this concept which can be seen in the intimacy associated with taking the name of a woman. The uproar within the community starts with the association of Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq's daughter's name with the magazine 'Ismat'-- "Na maloom kitnay mardon ne aur kaisay kaisay mardon ne ye naam parha ho ga. Agar Irfan-ul-Haq zara aqalman hotay tou patay mein bajaye 'Muhtarma Mahmooda Bano muarfat Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq ki ibarat seedha saadha fikra 'Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq' bhi ho sakta tha." The mistake of naming the woman who ordered the magazine seems more grave than actually ordering the magazine itself. This intimacy associated with taking the name of a 'ghair aurat' has heavy connotations of not only as the woman as a sexual object whose very name must also be unknown but is also a blatant reminder of the male gaze-- even if the man knows the name of an unknown woman he will associate sexuality with her. I like to see this as an indication of the irony of Purdah-- in attempting to protect the society from covert sexual relations, it sometimes ends up directing more attention to sex by stressing the presence of sexuality that is so dangerously inviting that it needs to be covered up and thrust inside so it may remain 'pure'.
The heavy Pardah imposed on the women within Ehsaan Manzil, especially preceding Irfan-ul-Haq's family, seems to ooze sexuality. The implications of a male-- whether he be a mahram or a non-mahram-- setting sight on the women of the family seem to point to disastrous consequences-- is it just to follow Islamic regulations or is it the fear of uncontainable sexuality? In the subcontinent, generally women are an entity whose sanctity needs to be protected to uphold the virtue of 'their' men but in Ehsaan Manzil there seems to be a need for this to be more severely implemented.
Mir Sanaullah and Mahsa shared the ideas of incest and the severity of Pardah; I will share another glaring example of this concept which can be seen in the intimacy associated with taking the name of a woman. The uproar within the community starts with the association of Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq's daughter's name with the magazine 'Ismat'-- "Na maloom kitnay mardon ne aur kaisay kaisay mardon ne ye naam parha ho ga. Agar Irfan-ul-Haq zara aqalman hotay tou patay mein bajaye 'Muhtarma Mahmooda Bano muarfat Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq ki ibarat seedha saadha fikra 'Sheikh Irfan-ul-Haq' bhi ho sakta tha." The mistake of naming the woman who ordered the magazine seems more grave than actually ordering the magazine itself. This intimacy associated with taking the name of a 'ghair aurat' has heavy connotations of not only as the woman as a sexual object whose very name must also be unknown but is also a blatant reminder of the male gaze-- even if the man knows the name of an unknown woman he will associate sexuality with her. I like to see this as an indication of the irony of Purdah-- in attempting to protect the society from covert sexual relations, it sometimes ends up directing more attention to sex by stressing the presence of sexuality that is so dangerously inviting that it needs to be covered up and thrust inside so it may remain 'pure'.
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