Women and Mosques

Today it seems to be accepted that women are not required to go to Friday prayer, and that in general it is better for women to pray at home. But what happened at the beginning of Islam? Did women pray alongside men at the first mosque in Madinah, in an area that was unsegregated? Did they pray all 5 prayers at the mosque, or just Friday prayers? Was the mosque more than just a place of prayer? What purpose did that first mosque serve the first Muslims?

In Imam Bukhari's Book of Friday, there is the following Hadith: "Do not forbid the mosques of Allah to the women of Allah." The Prophet somehow sensed that future generations of Muslim men would attempt to prevent women from praying at the mosque, and thus made it clear with this Hadith that women should always be allowed access to the mosque.

In her book "The Forgotten Queens of Islam", Fatima Mernissi shows how only 400 years after this Hadith, Muslim male scholars began casting doubt on whether it was necessary or even recommendable that women pray at the mosque. Ibn al-Jawzi mentions that if a woman fears disturbing men's minds, she should pray at home." What does that even mean? How would a woman disturb a man's mind? He gives the example of how if a male prays behind a row of women, his prayers are worthless. Aside from whether this is even true, shouldn't he then advise men to come on time, instead of advising women to stay home?

From this time on, many historians noted that most mosques were not frequented by many women. "We are certainly a long way from the Prophet's mosque, open to all, welcoming all those interested in Islam, including women" (Mernissi).

The female companions of the Prophet clearly did have access to the mosque. In fact Aisha's hut was connected to the mosque itself, showing how the Prophet did not feel the need to completely separate private from public, a need most modern Muslim men feel intensely. In Egypt in the early 1900s, feminists had to ask for the right to attend public prayer. How did things deteriorate to this extent for Muslim women, to the extent that we are not always granted access to the MOSQUE - a place of worship!

I will leave you with this quote by Mernissi: "The mosque was something other than a mere place of worship. It was a place where showing ignorance was permitted, where asking questions was encouraged, both activities that today are strongly prohibited."

Books on Women & Islam

This post is a list of books on women and Islam. I got interested in the subject of gender and Islam about a year ago, so I'm still finding out about good authors and books, but these are the ones I've read so far that have really impressed me and changed the way I see Islam.

Women and Gender in Islam
Leila Ahmed

This book traces the historical roots of the debate on whether Islamic socieites are inherently oppressive to women. Ahmed looks at societies from the ancient Egyptians to modern day nation states, and analyzes how Islam has been used time and again to deny women their rights.

Qur'an and Woman
Amina Wadud

I blogged about this book before. This is the first interpretive reading of the Qur'an done by a woman (funny how the first interpretation by a woman was done in 1999). "Muslim progressives have long argued that it is not the religion but patriarchal explication and implementation of the Qur'an that have kept women oppressed. For many, the way to reform is the reexamination and reinterpretation of religious texts."

Beyond the Veil
Fatima Mernissi

Mernissi argues that the Islamic view of women as active sexual beings resulted in stricter regulation and control of women's sexuality, which Muslim theorists classically regarded as a threat to civilized society. This book blew me away when I first read it, and really got me interested in the issue of women and Islam. Mernissi is a fantastic writer and every single book of hers has impacted me.

The Veil and the Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam
Fatima Mernissi

I just finished reading this book and it was amazing. Mernissi analyzes several Hadith that show women in a negative light, for example the one that has the Prophet saying that entrusting ones affairs to a woman will not lead to prosperity. Mernissi shows that the men that reported these Hadith were not of sound character and also that these Hadith were rejected and challenged by Aisha. Despite this, they were included in Bukhari's collection of strong Hadith and remain unchallenged until today.

The Forgotten Queens of Islam
Fatima Mernissi

I just began reading this one. Mernissi talks about how it seems impossible that a caliph could ever be a woman. She goes on to discuss various female Islamic leaders throughout history, and how society reacted to them. She begins the book by talking about Benazir Bhutto, and the outrage by Islamic fundamentalists when she was elected, since they could not imagine a woman leading a Muslim country. This book is denser than her others but looks like it'll be really interesting.

Gendering the Middle East
Deniz Kandiyoti

This is a collection of essays by different authors on the issue of gender in the Middle East, and some are related to Islam. I like books like these because you get different perspectives and debates all in one.

The Hidden Face of Eve
Nawal el Saadawi

This book deals with the kind of oppression facing women in the Arab world. What I liked about it is that she meticulously proves that this oppression has no basis in Islam, and is completely cultural. Her views are seen as "wrong" by many Muslims because she claims that the veil and polygamy and incompatible with the essence of Islam.

Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject
Saba Mahmood

Mahmood did ethnographic fieldwork on the grassroots women's piety movement in the mosques of Cairo, and this resulted in this groundbreaking study that is quoted everywhere. The topic of the Egyptian Islamic revival is explored in detail, and she focuses specifically on how women in these movements respond to patriarchy.

Sexuality in Islam
Abdelwahab Boudhiba

Arguing that sexuality enjoys a privileged status in Islam, this book aims to integrate the sexual and the religious. Boudhiba looks at the question of male supremacy in Islam, and the strict separation of the masculine and feminine. Topics include homosexuality, concubinage, mysoginy, mysticism, and eroticism.
This book has a lot of interesting ideas and a lot of shocking information. Definitely worth reading if you are interested in the subject.

The Scimitar and the Veil: Extraordinary Women of Islam
Jennifer Heath

I haven't read this book yet but I was excited about buying it. This book is the first popular history and overview of Muslim women and their accomplishments. It portrays over 50 extraordinary Muslim women, including the women who played a crucial role in Muhammad's life, as well as scholars of the Hadith, saints and mystics, queens and warriors, rebels and concubines, and outstanding poets, musicians, and storytellers.

Reading Lolita in Tehran
Azar Nafisi

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I'm really interested in Iran and the women's movement there, and so this book was perfect. "Azar Nafisi's luminous tale offers a fascinating portrait of the Iran-Iraq war and gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women's lives in revolutionary Iran."

That's all I can think of now. Does anyone have any good books on women and Islam? I would love to find as many as I can. Hope you enjoy :)

Saudi Segregation

I’d heard a lot about Saudi Arabia’s segregation in malls, ministries, and other public buildings, but wasn’t really sure whether to believe it or not since most of it came from Western media sources, which can be slightly biased, to put it nicely. Anyway, Madinah wasn’t bad at all. Of course I never saw women driving or working in any of the shops/restaurants, but that I had already expected. Makkah however, was another story.

I first noticed the segregation when I went to the Starbucks in our hotel complex and saw a sign saying “Singles”. I looked around the corner and saw another sign saying “Families”. I went into the singles section and ordered, and saw a partition between the 2 sections. As I walked around the mall, I noticed this was the case in every eating place: KFC for example has a line for women and a line for men. There is also a whole separate shopping mall for women.

To be honest, I don’t understand segregation. If we all act like mature adults, surely there is no need to put barriers between men and women in coffee shops. In a mosque, fine, I understand that some women feel more comfortable when men aren’t around, and after having lived in Cairo and gone through a lot of sexual harassment, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t want these men behind you while you pray. However, does every single public place need to be segregated? Is this deep mistrust of human nature healthy?

There are a lot of things about Saudi Arabian culture that bother me. The problem is that because Saudi Arabia has such a prominent place in the Islamic world, these cultural things get associated with Islam. Were mosques segregated at the time of the Prophet the way they are today? Would the Prophet not have allowed women the same access to prayer in front of the Kaabah or the to his tombstone? Would the Prophet have forced all women in Makkah and Madinah to veil (not during prayer or Umrah, but in general)?. These policies seem to go against the spirit of Islam. Are they Islamic or are they Saudi Arabian influences?