and compliment me for it.This time, ten times more people came over,
appreciating what I had said, Alhamdu lillah. That'sone of the most
positive instances of feedback I've ever gotten in years of giving
Khutbas! Although I have yet to hear the response from the leadership
of the Masjid, this gives me hope that the community is ready for
change.
A few board members also spoke very positively about the points I
raised, including one of the founding members. The question is, who is
stopping the change?
Current Chicago Masjid Spaces for Women
In Chicago, I estimate thatin about ten percent of the Friday prayer
locations, there is proper space for sisters' participation. In these
places men and women are in the same location without a curtain or
wall separating them. In termsof the remaining 80 percent of mosques
that do have a space for women, these are often cramped and
inconvenient. By inconvenient, I mean that women cannot see the Imam
or do not know what is happening in the congregational prayer. In
about 10 percent of the Chicago-area mosques there are no spaces for
women.
One Muslim sister in the city related to me her experience after
visiting one of the largest mosques in Chicago that had an
inconvenient roomfor women. When she entered the women's area, a group
of sisters was standing in line, thinking prayer had started because
the recitation of the Quran could be heard. Taking Quran recitation as
a cue for congregational prayer,the sister joined the others in line.
After several minutes, when theman ended his recitation without
calling for the next step of prayer, Ruku, the women learned that
itwas not a prayer. Needless to say, the women were humiliated and
upset about this confusing situation. This isjust an example of the
practical problems this segregation in prayer places causes.
An additional problem in mosques where women cannot see the Imam is
the fact that the noise level often becomes unacceptable. This tends
to be because most men dump the responsibility for taking care of
their active children on their wives when they go to the men's section
of mosque. Also, since women can't see what's going on, they end up
talking to each other. Thisleads to the Imam asking women to "be quiet
please," furthering tension and exclusion.
When women are out of sight, it's also more likely that they will be
out of mind. That means their discourse and participation are ignored
on a Masjid and community level. Moreover, few women have easy access
to the Imam, which worsens the problem, since the Imam is the one man
who can make a significant difference in bringing women's issues and
problems to the attentionof other Muslim men in the community. This
perhaps explains why youdon't normally hear manyKhutbas on women's
challenges here in America or abroad.
Negative Dawa
The situation becomes worse when non- Muslimsvisit. They see there are
hardly any women present in the mosque. Or,if there are a few, they
areconfined to a small and less ceremonious corner. What kind of Dawa
is this? What kind of impression does this give in our current
context, where the battle against stereotypes is ten times harder than
it was pre-9/11 America? This visual impact is far greater and far
more lasting then tens of bookslauding the status of women in Islam.
Since Shahadah (witnessing) is the first pillar of Islam, this
obstacle to outreach must be dealt with.
Of course, women, unlike men, are given a choice by the Prophet to
pray at home or in the mosque. But the Prophet was categorical in
telling men "do not stop women from coming to the Masjid." Friday
prayers are also optional for women. But considering that Friday
sermons are the only Islamic educational opportunity available to most
women in the North America Muslim women should attend Friday prayers.
Thisis especially important because we do not yet have a widespread
tradition of female teachers, as is the case in the Muslim world. I am
pretty sure Caliph Omar would have encouraged Friday prayer attendance
by women if he was alive today in the United States,may God be pleased
with him.
Who is stopping womenfrom the Masjid
Knowing both of these Masjids, their volunteer leadership, and the
fact that women are on their boards, I don't think either of them
stops women from attending and participating. The firstMasjid's
president did make an announcement twice in front of me inviting women
to visit the new location to help determine the sisters' space.
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