Woman Leads Muslim Prayer Service in New York

[MavKikiNYC]

March 19, 2005
Woman Leads Muslim Prayer Service in New York
By ANDREA ELLIOTT

Almost nothing about the Friday prayer held yesterday in Morningside Heights in Manhattan was familiar to Samira Jaraba, a Palestinian immigrant who trekked alone on the subway from Brooklyn, cloaked in a cream headscarf, to see if the rumors were true.

Indeed, a woman, Dr. Amina Wadud, led the Muslim service after another woman sounded the call to prayer wearing no headscarf. More than a hundred men and women knelt in adjacent rows, with no curtain to divide them. They were surrounded by a bustling group of newspaper reporters, photographers and television cameras. And outside the service, which was held at the Synod House of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, protesters held signs and cried out in disgust.

"I was curious to see what's going on," said Ms. Jaraba, 30, who took part in the prayer with some hesitation. "I still don't agree with women being imams."

A mix of reactions, from discomfort to elation, colored the mood at the service, which was organized by a group of Muslim activists who hope to elevate the status of women in Islam. The event t drew sharp criticism from prominent clerics in the Middle East and has sparked a far-reaching debate.

At the heart of the debate and the resulting discord is the question of whether Muslim women should be given the same privileges as men in the practice of their faith. The Koran does not directly address whether women can lead congregational prayer, several scholars said. But they cite sections of the Sunnah, or the recorded teachings and actions of Muhammad, the founder of the faith, to either support or challenge the notion.

Interpretations of the writings vary widely: some argue that the prophet gave permission to women to lead any kind of prayer, while others say that he meant to restrict the practice to prayer at home. The issue is complicated by the fact that men are required to attend Friday prayer whereas women are not.

While the policies of mosques vary, women have traditionally prayed in separate rows. Commonly they are relegated to less desirable areas of the mosque: behind the men, or in other quarters, like basements, hallways or on another floor where the imam's sermon is broadcast over speakers.

In about two-thirds of the mosques in the United States, women pray behind partitions, curtains or in separate rooms from men, according to a study conducted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations. The practice is not dictated by the Koran, but is the result of social traditions, said Khaled Abou El Fadl, a professor at the University of California at Los Angeles who specializes in Islamic law.

"The idea is that in today's world, men have become so corrupt they must be separate," he said. "If we don't seclude women and hide them, then men are not going to be able to concentrate on the prayer."

This is the kind of traditional view that Asra Q. Nomani, an author and the principal organizer of yesterday's prayer service, said she hopes to dispel.

"The voices of women have been silenced by centuries of man-made traditions, and we're saying, 'No more!' " she said as she stood before a tangle of microphones at a news conference before the service began. "We're going to move from the back of the mosque to the front of the mosque."

For the most part, New York City Muslims have been unreceptive to the event: organizers could not find a mosque willing to host it. Then, after a reported bomb threat thwarted plans to hold the service at a SoHo gallery, organizers moved it to the Synod House. More than two dozen police officers were on hand yesterday checking bags and patting people down before they entered.

Starting about 1 p.m., dozens of people gathered inside, in rows on a makeshift blue carpet. About a third of the congregants were men.

It was not the first time Dr. Wadud, an Islamic studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, had led a mixed-gender prayer, she said: she gave a sermon at a Friday prayer in South Africa in 1994. Yesterday, her sermon centered on the idea that men and women should treat each other as equals, and not presume Allah to be male.

"Men get to tell us how to be women even though they've never been women themselves," she said, eliciting chuckles.

[MavKikiNYC]

Woman Leads Muslim Prayers in New York, Sparking Worldwide Controversy
By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
19 March 2005

Schoetzau report - Download 414k
Schoetzau report

Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, below, leads prayer in New York

Controversy erupted in New York Friday and spread across the Islamic world as a woman Islam scholar led Friday prayer services. The service opened with a call to prayer by another woman whose grandfather once led the call to prayer in Cairo,Egypt.

Organizers say it is the first time on record that a woman has led the Muslim Friday prayer service. Men and women generally sit separately during Muslim services and the role of prayer leader has been reserved for men, although some Islamic scholars say they are aware of a few other mixed-gender services led by women.

Amina Wadud has now taken a step to change Islamic traditions. An Islamic scholar at Virginia Commonwealth University, Professor Wadud describes herself as a lonely scholar who took this most public of steps to symbolize the possibilities for gender equality within Islam. She led the mixed-gender service at a building on the grounds of the episcopal Cathedral of Saint John the Divine after the original venue was changed following threats.

Several religious leaders in the Middle East have criticized the event, saying it violates centuries of tradition. But in her sermon, Professor Wadud said it is a violation of god's integrity to try to reduce half of God's creation. "Allah is always present whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we agree with it or not, whether it is convenient for us or not, women and men both are necessary and essential to Allah's plan for creation and women and men both have the capacity to reach more moral excellence," she said.

About one-third of the approximatively 100 congregants were men. Among them, a graduate student named Enis from Turkey called the service an historic event. "This is the beginning of an end to male domination in religious authority," he said.

Participants came from as far away and Kentucky and Michigan. The location of the service was kept secret until the last moment because of threats and dozens of police guarded the area, keeping about two dozen protesters at bay. The protest groups included men and women.

Male Protester: "They are trying to bring change in the Koran. If Islam goes with what you feel, then it is not a religion, it is an option. We are against her because she is trying to offend 1.4 billion Muslims and as a Muslim it is our duty to forbid what we see as evil."


Woman Protester: "I am against what she is saying because it has never been allowed, since the 14th century until now all the religious scholars never allow a woman to be an Iman."

Some observers say the event represents a split between the thinking of older Muslims and a new generation born and bred in the United States. Others say the event was to help publicize a new book written by one of the organizers. Either way, the small service has ignited a debate on the role of women in Islam throughout the Muslim world, thanks in large part to the Internet.

[Mavdog]

To condone discrimination against women on the basis of "tradition", whether religious or otherwise, is so absurd it borders on comical.