A prominent Kerala-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Abubakr Ahmad, has faced sharp criticism after stating at a gathering in Kochi that women should largely remain confined to their homes rather than enter public life. He compared women to gold ornaments that need to be kept securely stored, arguing that exposing them to public spaces would cause destruction and undermine their dignity.
Ahmad defended his remarks by framing them as a protective, century-old institutional position rather than a personal opinion, and asserted that his decades of religious study entitle him to state this position despite objections. Women’s rights groups and political commentators criticized the comments as regressive, reigniting a debate over conservative religious authority and gender equality in public life.