AND INDEED SHAYTAAN MISLEAD THESE WOMEN AND THEY PROUDLY FOLLOWED - LA HAWLA WALA QUWWATA ILLAH BILLAH !!! INNA LILLAHI WA INNA ILAYHI RAJI'OON !!!
The Women’s Mosque of America opened its doors on Friday in central
Los Angeles, welcoming a crowd of Muslim women from around the country.
L.A.-based
professionals M. Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib serve as president and
co-president of the mosque's board, respectively, and have worked with
the rest of their team for months to bring the project to fruition. By
day, Maznavi is a filmmaker and comedy writer, while Muttalib works as
an attorney. They teamed up with the Pico Union Project, an interfaith worship space in Los Angeles, to house their mosque, and held the first juma’a,
or Friday prayers, on Jan. 30. Edina Lekovic, the director of policy
and programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, led the mosque’s
inaugural khutbah, or sermon, and congregants were invited to join in a
post-juma’a discussion and Q and A.
The Women’s Mosque is
making its debut at a time when many American Muslims are questioning
the traditions and norms they grew up with. The Chicago-based writer
Hind Makki started a website in 2012 called “Side Entrances,”
which invited women to post their photos and experiences at worship
services. Mosques are often segregated by gender, sometimes with wall
dividers marking off each area. Many women have expressed frustration at
these divisions, and as Makki told NPR earlier this month, many men had no conception of the women's experience.
"They
just had no idea that this was somewhat typical of women's experiences
at a mosque -- that you go to a mosque and you don't see a dome; you
don't see the imam, certainly; you don't see the architecture -- you see
a big wall in front of you," she said.
The Women’s Mosque tackles that issue head-on.
“The emergence of a female-only mosque is a natural outcome of the culture of female exclusion in mosques across the country,” Makki told The Huffington Post by email. “A female-only mosque empowers women to take ownership of religious scholarship and spirituality in a safe and welcoming space.”
HuffPost spoke with Maznavi and Muttalib about
the process of opening a women’s-only mosque and what they see as the
future of Muslim leadership in the U.S. Their answers were written and
edited jointly except where noted otherwise.
What experiences in your own religious life led you to embark on the project?
Muttalib:
As a young girl, my mother and father taught me that Islam was a
religion that promoted equality among classes, races and sexes. With
time, I realized that the egalitarian spirit of Islam that I loved so
much was not always upheld or applied in Muslim spaces. When I
reconnected with the Quran as a law student, I found that the text
solidified my belief that Islam promotes the rights and equality of
women. A closer look at Islamic history also made me realize that women
played an important and strong role in throughout Islamic history.
Maznavi:
As a young girl growing up in California’s largest mosque, I always
felt welcomed and included. But once I left home and began exploring
mosques outside of Southern California, I realized many mosques favored
cultural practices of secluding women over Islamic practices of
inclusion. It was hard not to internalize this disconnect in God’s
houses as a lack of worthiness of my connection to God. I began studying
under various female Islamic scholars across the country and found my
studies transformative and incredibly empowering.
What has the process been like? Have you encountered roadblocks?
We
were able to secure our venue through establishing a supportive
partnership with the Pico Union Project in Los Angeles -- a beautiful
multifaith synagogue that hosts six different religious groups,
including Christians, Jews and now Muslims. We are honored to be the
first Muslim group to join this wonderful multifaith effort toward peace
and understanding between the Abrahamic faiths.
Though our
planning process has been a largely positive one, the primary roadblock
we face is that of securing funds to cover our operational costs. At the
moment, the Women’s Mosque of America is a volunteer-run organization
that depends on the goodwill of its volunteers and the generous
contributions of supporters and congregants. Our hope is that we will be
able to secure sufficient funding that will allow us to expand our
programming.
What feedback have you gotten from men in your religious communities?
We
have received numerous messages from men who have expressed that they
are enthusiastic about our concept and are encouraging their mothers,
sisters, wives, female friends and daughters to attend our first Friday
prayer service. Specifically, we have heard from a number of young
fathers who have told us they are grateful that their daughters can one
day participate in a space like ours.
We also have two male board
members who were so supportive about this idea that they personally
wanted to become involved. One of them is the new father to a baby girl
and wants her to grow up in a world where she has access to a space
specifically designed to develop her nearness to God.
What elements of the new mosque are you most excited about?
We
are most excited by the fact that a woman speaker, or khateeba, will be
able to address women’s issues and concerns from a female perspective
and with an all-female congregation. In most existing mosques, women do
not often get a chance to access the male imam for questions or
discussions after prayer, because he is in the men’s section and is
inaccessible until a later time. The concept behind the post-juma’a
conversation is to further facilitate meaningful conversations between
the congregants and the khateeba, and to increase women’s access to
productive discourse relating to faith and to Islamic scholars who can
answer their questions and speak to their concerns.
SOURCE:
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Women's-Only Mosque Opens In L.A.
The
Women’s Mosque of America opened its doors on Friday in central Los
Angeles, welcoming a crowd of Muslim women from around the country.
L.A.-...
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