A report from Washington DC caught my attention a while back. It says that one Muslim woman by the name of Jannah B’int Hannah led a group of 20 Muslim women to worship in the main prayer hall of the Islamic Center of Washington. In most American mosques today, the main prayer hall is the preserve of Muslim male worshippers while Muslim women worship in a small room elsewhere in the mosque. But now, Muslim women like Jannah B’int Hannah are questioning this policy of sex segregation within the mosque.
The room in the Islamic Center of Washington where Muslim women worship is surrounded by 7-ft high wooden walls. In contrast, the main prayer hall is covered by carpets with intricate designs and turquoise tiles line the walls. Jannah B’int Hannah said concerning the small room: “Boxed in, stifling, suffocating and totally a second class citizen.” Also, those in this room cannot see the imam when he is speaking.
DC Police were called in to remove the women from the main prayer hall when they refused to vacate it over the weekend. The women said they would continue with their struggle as they left on threats of arrest if they did not quit the place.
But why do mosques have this policy of sex segregation. Syed Burmi, the imam of Islamic Society of Western Maryland, gave 2 resons for this. He said, firstly, such sex segregation or physical separation helps maintain women’s privacy and modesty. Secondly, it helps to keep the focus on prayer.
Syed Burmi explained: “If I stand next to a lady or a woman stands next to me, maybe the focus will change and no longer be on God the Almighty. So that’s why we put the partition.”
Jannah B’int Hannah is not the only Muslim woman to protest this sex segregation policy in the mosque. Asra Nomani, a leading Islamic feminist who led a similar protest in West Virginia, said: “We have this generation of American Muslim women who are saying ‘look, you want us to go to Harvard, to rise to the highest level of Wall Street firms and you want us to sit where in the mosque?’”
Now Muslim women activists are saying that they will continue to try to pray in the main hall until this policy changes. And they may be succeeding. Today, one in every three American mosques reportedly do not have this physical separation during worship.
Think about it. One-third of American mosques have apparently done away with this sex segregation policy. Are they right in doing so? If so, shouldn’t the other two-third of American mosques follow suit? Will they? In the light of Muslim women increasingly questioning this policy, should they? If not, why not?
Earlier posts
Saudi Arabia – New Campus Provides Freedom For Women
Saudi Arabia – 40 Lashes Of Cane For 75 Year Old Woman
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