By What would you say to those who, coming from a standpoint against the women’s mosque, or just simply against the idea of this separation that say, “If we have a women’s mosque now, pretty soon we’ll have an exclusively gay mosque, or an exclusively Black or Arab mosque…” and it becomes a domino effect. What would you say to those people?
This is a complimentary space, it is not an alternative space. It is not a competition with existing mosques. We are working with other mosques and other imams, as I said. We are planning to even have some of our Jummahs in other mosques, maybe in the next year once we start to expand. So we are working with Muslim men and with the greater Muslim community on this project.
I would say to those people that the best way to understand this concept is to consider that of a women’s gym or a women’s college. No one would say,
“Oh you have a women’s gym, you’re going to put all the other co-ed gyms out of service.”
No, there’s a specific need. Women need a place to feel space to spread their wings, and practice for the first time, some of them, reciting the Quran in public — that’s very scary for a lot of women, including myself. We really benefit from this safe space where we can gain inspiration, get stronger, and then go back to our existing mosques. In the first khutbah [sermon] given by Edina, she gave this amazing statistic:
“Over the past couple decades, American mosques have actually made great strides in opening up boards positions to women. Yet all of these mosques have reported that none of those positions are being filled, and Muslim women are not stepping up to the plate.”
And part of that is that we’re just not used to having positions of leadership. So that’s what this place is.
It’s like a place of empowerment. The Jummahs right now are only once a month, so its not even that you’re coming here all the time. We’re not having five daily prayers. We want women to come here, gain inspiration, and go back to their mosques with that inspiration. We want these women to join the boards at their mosques, and bring all the things that they learned from us — strength and empowerment — to their mosques and make them better.
And we would love to work with existing mosques to help them strategize and say,
“Okay we have a very low female turnout at our mosques, can you give us some tips on how to make our mosque more welcoming?” That’s exactly the type of outreach work we want to do with all the mosques, insha’ Allah.
Did I already told you I love you?
End of feminism
End horny toad patriarchalism.
*slow clap*
Eight ball tells me homosexuals and trans will be welcome in this mosque.
They are welcomed in all mosques anyway, ignoramus. Except yours.
um there isn’t any such thing in the sun ah of a gender exclusive masjid. this women’s mosque is not from the sunnah so I’m not sure about its status under Islamic law. the masjid is the house of Allah. there is no such thing as a masjid for women or a masjid for men. Jumuah is lead by the imam, women do not lead the jumuah lecture or the salaat( yes I know what she said in the article). This is an innovation in the religion, and the prophet (pbuh) clearly stated that every innovation is in the fire.
sisters I urge you to abandon this bidah. if it bothers you to have s divider in the masjid go to a mosque where there isn’t one. The religion is complete please don’t do things not done by the best of the people the Sahabah.
This is the Mosque that does not have a divider. Go to this one, ladies. A hundred thousand innovations and you are cherry picking on this one alone? Ignoramus. Define complete.
Ignoramus. Define complete.
AsSalaamu Aalikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh. I love the idea of empowering women. Many men in this ummah have forgotten or even don’t realize
that women are the heart of this society. I feel that women having a place to
learn their deen in a space they feel welcomed is awesome. The question I have is does this place have to be an all womens masjid? I too have been
displaced from the men to pray jummah. They put me next to a garbage can in a
secular activity center’s kitchen. Our masjid was in its grass roots phase and
they did not want women to come to the jummah prayer. There was almost no men
there and I was far in the back. It left me feeling even more isolated than I
already was, being a new convert. I always say Alhamdulillah Allah has shown me
Islam before He showed me the Muslims or else I would not have converted. The way this deen have become segmented is baffling. Be reminded that Rasullulah (saw) warned us of divisions. He also said do not prevent your women from coming to the masjid. This all women masjid is only creating more division in an already divided community. If this sister took the money that she raised for this women’s masjid and made additions to an existing one, would that help her plight? Having halaqa’s and having woman scholars toteach Islamic and Arabic studies can be a start. I don’t think you had to build a whole new masjid to have a place for women. Allah will not change a people until they change what is within themselves. Women have lost their way. We don’t know our place in this society and want to imitate non-believers to ourdetriment. Yes women in the time of the Prophet (saw) were teachers and leaders but they respected the boundaries in this deen. We need to go back to basics, learn what is accepted and expected of us as muslimahs and then maybe we can start a real dialogue to be heard and respected. May Allah forgive us and guide us, Ameen.
“women don’t know their place in society.”
I stopped reading from there.
Women have been marginalised, objectified and ignored even with many cries to end segregation and when they finally have a mosque of their own for their own issues it is suddenly strayed.
I have personally experienced something similar in the mosque. When they were donating for islamic education for someone, to men they said “Please donate, shukraan” but to women “please donate sisters, we know you love clothing and makeup but this is for the better” um wow, excuse me? They are using women’s money to keep on pushing them back. heck even the first university, which was created by a muslim woman, is now dominated by males and women cant enter anymore.
This is what happens
also women’s mosque isnt new. Chinese muslim communities have them everywhere and theyre fine. no fatwa or bullshit innovation said by male scholars.