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Women fight mosque gender separation
PROTEST: A group of women performed their prayers on the
street outside a mosque when police were called after they went into an area
reserved for men
AFP , WASHINGTON
Tuesday, Mar 09, 2010, Page 7
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A group of Muslim women pray outside the
Islamic Center of Washington on Sunday.
PHOTO: AFP
A group of Muslim women risked arrest on Sunday as they sought to pray in the
main area of the Islamic Center of Washington ¡X an area ordinarily reserved
exclusively for men.
¡§Wooden barriers have to be taken down and women have to be allowed to join, to
pray behind the men in the main praying area. That¡¦s our request,¡¨ said Fatima
Thompson, a US Muslim who converted to the faith 18 years ago.
¡§We are against gender segregation, against the fact that women are put aside or
in a totally different room at the mosque,¡¨ added Thompson, who led the group of
female protestors, all self-identified progressive Muslims.
The Sunday protest was the second time women have sought to share the main
prayer area at the mosque in Washington after a group of twenty women first
tried last month.
¡§The general issue we are pushing is gender segregation and the ramifications it
fosters. It¡¦s not healthy, and not reflective of our society here. It¡¦s very
reflective of very restrictive, ultra orthodox societies,¡¨ Thompson said.
Their hair covered with headscarves, the group of six women entered the mosque¡¦s
prayer area via the main door usually reserved for men and walked through to the
room where around 20 men had already arrived.
SMALL DOOR
Women and children ordinarily enter the Washington mosque, located in the city¡¦s
embassy district, through a small door hidden behind a screen.
¡§If you are black in this country they can¡¦t tell you to sit in a corner but if
you are a woman they can,¡¨ said Asra Nomani, a Muslim feminist who has
participated in similar protests elsewhere in the US.
The imam presiding over the prayer interrupted proceedings to make an
announcement by microphone.
¡§We are going to wait, because some people came to disturb the prayer, until the
police come and take care of this issue,¡¨ he said.
Within minutes, three police officers arrived and told the women to leave or
face arrest.
¡§In Indonesia where I¡¦m from, it¡¦s not the way we pray,¡¨ said one woman, who
declined to give her name, of the segregated prayer setup.
¡§I¡¦m shocked,¡¨ added the woman, who sobbed, she said, because she felt so
humiliated.
¡§I want to make them think about it and make some change,¡¨ she added.
¡§We may not get to see that in our lifetime but we do that for our daughters,¡¨
said Jannah Hannah, who converted to Islam a quarter of a century ago and said
she would continue to fight for shared prayer space.
The group of women agreed to leave the mosque, but performed their prayers on
the street outside, facing the metal gates of the building as police looked on.
The mosque¡¦s imam, who declined to give his name, criticized the group as
¡§people who come and don¡¦t respect the law.¡¨
¡¥DISGUSTING¡¦
¡§It¡¦s disgusting,¡¨ added a man as he left the mosque. ¡§If they are Muslims they
have to follow the rules.¡¨
¡§Build your own mosque,¡¨ another man told the women.
After a brief exchange at the mosque¡¦s exit, one man seemed to have a change of
heart.
¡§Traditions control Islam at the moment, and that¡¦s not the same as Islam,¡¨ said
Bachir Kardoussi, a lecturer in comparative religion at the University of
Constantine.
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