Women in the Mosque

My first comment: I do think facilities of women needs to be improved. However, it should also looked at in context of the ability of the individuals mosques themselves. Further, for a woman it is not more worthy for them praying in the mosque than it is from praying at home. They have been given a mercy to maintain their prayers in the most convenient way which ... Read moreoften means at home. There is more impetus for a man to pray in a mosque where there is a mosque close by. In addition to this the council/trustees of the mosque would benefit enormouly from having a female voice amongst them...

Humera: Load of RUBBISH Mohammad! It is exactly such views that have excluded women from the public area. Since the mosque is the centre of communal life where else do you expect women to be - didn't the Prophet (s) actively encourage women into the public space! The way a mosque is built and the way facilities are provided is not a gender issue. Whether ... Read morewomen are involved or not in the discussion all mosques should be women and children friendly! Having the right perspective in imperative for both men and women. I have often heard men complain about the way women behave/dress etc in the mosque but if women are marginalised and not experienced/knowledgeable in such matters then the responsibility must be with those that claim to be the 'custodians' of our communal knowledge. In my experience it is almost impossible to influence the deeply chauvinistic attitudes that exists in most mosque committees. It is not surprising therefore that in places like China Muslim women have set up their own mosques - though for me this is not in the long term what is desired.

My response: I think you may have misunderstood me Humera by focusing entirely on my 3rd and 4th sentence. I have stated clearly that facilities for women needs to be improved - I did not state there needed to be women involved in the discussion for that to happen. For instance the LMC in East London is a good example of a mosque providing facilities for women. Also during my last conversation with the Imam from Kingston Mosque he mentioned that there was a woman on the advisory board.

However, older mosques may not be women friendly, which are further aggravated by positions of the elderly trustees from a different cultural background. To be honest they sweated hard enough building a mosque in the first place as well as raising their children, but many mosques are providing basic services for women which is within their capabilities. Many are not against women worshipping in the mosque.

I maintain that the mosque is a place of ibadat which is more incumbent on the men. The sunnah is evident of this.
I have also stated that that the trustees would benefit from having women amongst them...I go further and say female involvement needs to be encouraged.

This doesn't in no way mean women should not be involved in delivering lectures, or discussing issues that affect the greater community and even delivering a pre-khutba speech at Jumu’ah. Women were never excluded from the mosque during the time of the Prophet SWAS and continued to be involved in discussions affecting the greater community and women themselves in the time of Umar RA, even critiquing the noble Caliph himself.

However, the best place for worship for a woman is at home which is a mercy unto her, rather than visiting the mosque with shopping bags and two children either side of her, buggies etc, compromising her ibadat and the ibadat of other women in the mosque, or in the case when the separation is only a piece of cloth – then the men too. Why make your lives that difficult? Women have been given the allowance to pray at home when a mosque is close by. Muslim men and Muslim women protect each others Islam. It is not about focusing egotistically on me, myself and I. 

To summarise clearly, I advocate better services for women in the mosques and far greater involvement in the affairs of the mosque with the most relevant people – this would obviously involve women. In the same instance I would also argue that mosques are not doing enough for their communities in the first place, the women’s issue being but one issue, motivating the congregation to act with wisdom would go a mile in tackling Islamophobia in the media and within certain section of the political spectrum. 

Fortunately I feel as the new generation comes in, things are slowly changing for all of us, but more needs to be done wisely. However, I do fear a gung-ho “feminist” attitude serves only to undermine the Islam of theirs as well as alienate the elderly community who sweated to get us a mosque in the first place. I’m not saying wait for the change to happen naturally, I’m saying be respectful and act with wisdom and patience whilst trying to make a change and always stay conscious of Allah when you seek a change, lest you fall victim to being devils advocate without even knowing it.