Amina leads the prayer on Friday. (Reuters)

March 20: She is being called the ?shock Imam?, having stunned Muslim clergy across continents. In India, the shade of opinion over a Muslim woman leading namaz ranges from anger to flippancy to allegations of an American conspiracy.

On March 18, Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led Friday prayers in New York, where about half of the estimated 100 people were men. Clad in a hijab (veil), she also read out the Khutba (the holy sermon).

This has triggered a controversy as traditionally, women are not even allowed to offer namaz inside mosques. In exceptional cases, women pray in a separate room or behind a partition.

Muslim religious leaders in India have been dismissive about Amina, claiming that the event was aimed at hogging media attention.

?It?s a matter of modesty that prevents a Muslim woman from leading prayers,? said Lucknow-based Shia leader Maulana Kalbe-Jawwad. He pointed out that when Muslims pray, they form ruler-straight lines. Resting on their knees, they lean forward until their foreheads touch the floor. Both the worshippers and the prayer leader face west towards Mecca.

Peer Sayeed Mian, the rector of Bhopal-based Taj-ul-Masajid, said the event was ?un-Islamic? as women are not supposed to lead prayers. ?It is not a question of gender equality,? he said, questioning the need for it.

?In Islam, the role of duties of men and women are clearly defined. There is no such thing as aping men,? he said, terming it another ?conspiracy? to create differences on gender lines.

Maulana Mohammad Saleem, a preacher in Bhopal, said offering namaz was an act between a person and God. ?It is not that one who leads would go to heaven and those following would get a lesser reward.?

Kamal Farooqui, a member of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board, said Islam has consciously-defined gender roles. ?Women have been bestowed the greatest honour of giving birth to children. Does that mean that men start complaining about it?? he asked.

Amina countered that Prophet Mohammed had granted permission to a woman called Umm Warraq to lead her family in prayers.

Scholars at Darul-Uloom, Deoband, and Nadwa-tul-ulema, Lucknow, said what Amina had failed to mention is that Umm Warraq led the people of her house in a prayer at one occasion only.

Imam Malik and Imam Abu Hanifa, famed commentators of Islam, considered it an exception.

Even if proved correct, Umm Warraq?s case has to do with inside-home prayers involving women or male family members in the extreme, but has nothing to do with Friday and other obligatory prayers in public, they said.