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Did y'all see this?
Mar. 19th, 2005 01:14 pmMuslim woman leads mixed congregation in prayer.
How wonderful!
And to address the protestors (including those who threatened the mosque with bombs--nice):
The Koran does not directly address whether women can lead congregational prayer, several scholars said.
So shut the fuck up about it. If Mohammed didn't care, you shouldn't either.
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."
Don't you love how the men are supposed to be the corrupt ones, and yet it's the women who are shunted off to one side? That's the same reasoning that the Taliban used--women have to be covered from head-to-toe in suffocating outfits because men can't be trusted to behave themselves otherwise.
Okay, enough grumbling about "traditional" Islam, because I really am just so happy about this. I want to call this mosque, or write them and congratulate them. This is like the Episcopal Church's gay bishop. Yay for inclusion!
How wonderful!
And to address the protestors (including those who threatened the mosque with bombs--nice):
The Koran does not directly address whether women can lead congregational prayer, several scholars said.
So shut the fuck up about it. If Mohammed didn't care, you shouldn't either.
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."
Don't you love how the men are supposed to be the corrupt ones, and yet it's the women who are shunted off to one side? That's the same reasoning that the Taliban used--women have to be covered from head-to-toe in suffocating outfits because men can't be trusted to behave themselves otherwise.
Okay, enough grumbling about "traditional" Islam, because I really am just so happy about this. I want to call this mosque, or write them and congratulate them. This is like the Episcopal Church's gay bishop. Yay for inclusion!
