By
Hannah Steinkopf-Frank
2020-12-07
Like most modern religions, Islam is dominated
by men. Virtually every mosque in the world today is led by a male imam. And
yet a quiet trend of more women imams — a practice that dates back centuries —
is not only providing a different kind of spiritual guidance but also
encouraging diversity and dispelling stereotypes, from both within and outside
of the global Muslim community.
Dr. Amina Wadud, the first American woman imam
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Examples
include Dr. Amina Wadud, the first American woman imam and an early figure in
modern Islamic feminism, and Sherin Khankan, the first woman to lead Muslim
services in Denmark. Women have also made inroads within France's Islamic
communities, to the point that in 2020, "there is nothing exceptional
about being a woman imam," write imams Eva Janadin and Anne-Sophie Monsinay
in a recent opinion piece for the French daily Le Monde.
As Janadin
and Monsinay highlight in their piece, the existence of Muslim women leading
prayer goes back centuries. Around the world, they have long been at the helm
of women-only congregations. And now, there is an increasing movement, largely
within progressive groups, of women imams promoting a more inclusive vision of
Islam within mixed-gender religious spaces.
Sherin Khankan, one of two female imams at the Mariam mosque in
Copenhagen. Photograph: Harriet Sherwood/Guardian
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Making a
difference in France: Neither Monsinay nor Janadin come from Muslim
backgrounds, but turned to Islam as young adults. The two professors created
the Voices of an Enlightened Islam movement in 2018 to promote studying Islam
through a lens of "equality and freedom."
They
created the Sîmorgh mosque project in 2019 to study the Quran from a
contemporary perspective and not privilege the imam over the congregation
members.
The mosque,
which does not have a permanent space, draws a range of worshippers: an
internal survey found that almost 70% of members are in mixed intercultural and
interfaith unions. The movement stands out in a country where fear of Islamic
terrorism and an insistence on secular values are used to target Muslims,
particularly Muslim women and their use of headscarves.
But as
Janadin and Monsinay argue in Le Monde, Islam isn't inherently sexist. The
inequality that persists, they write, is "linked to the immobility of
conservative and patriarchal mentalities that must be distinguished from
spirituality."
Jamida Beevi leading prayer - National Alliance D N T movements
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Blazing a
new trail in India: In January 2018, Jamida Beevi made history as the first
Indian woman to lead a mixed congregation for the Jumu'ah (Friday) prayer in a
public space.
Beevi is
part of the Quran Sunnat Society, a group in the south-western India state of
Kerala aiming to bring reform to Muslim communities.
She has
strived to live an independent life, going against tradition to divorce a man
she was forced to marry and questioning orthodox doctrine. Despite having
received death threats, she hopes to inspire other women.
"The
Quran does not have any discrimination based on gender, all the fury is because
of the wrong interpretations," she tells India Today. "The Quran does
not entitle men as the lone leaders of Jumu'ah prayer. We have taken this
initiative to send a strong message to the society that both men and women are
equal in Islam."
Centuries-old
tradition in China: Going as far back as the 18th century, women-only mosques
evolved out of schools as a way to both educate women and preserve the
country's Muslim community, which has a long history of being oppressed and
assimilated. Most recently, Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang province have been
interned and women forced to take birth control and be sterilized. Elsewhere in
China, however, groups of Muslims have been able to practice freely, often
because of their compliance with the government.
Both Islam
and Christianity came to China in the 7th century. Henan, a central-eastern
province in the Yellow River Valley, is home to many of these all-women
mosques, with 16 located in the traditionally multipath city of Kaifeng.
China is
the only country in the world to have such a long practice of not only separate
religious spaces for women but also women in charge of prayer. This is possibly
because of its socialist history and isolation from religious changes in Islam
globally during the 20th century.
"When
our mothers were girls it was the only place where poor Muslim women could
receive an education: the women did it together, women supporting women,"
a member of the Wangjia Alley mosque (built in 1820 in Kaifeng) tells the BBC.
Training to
be mourchidat in Morocco: The North African Kingdom is the first country in the
Middle East and North African region to provide government-sanctioned education
for female religious leaders.
The program
began in reaction to a 2003 terrorist attack in which 14 suicide bombers killed
33 civilians. Both men and women learn not only theology but also subjects such
as history, philosophy and comparative religions. The program draws applicants
from around Africa and Europe and places graduates in mosques around the country.
Since 2005,
hundreds of women have been trained to work as mourchidat, female clerics who
teach Islamic law and practice and counsel fellow women. The program has been
criticized not only because it doesn't give women the same status as men, but
also because it enforces government control over religious practice.
While they
can't become imams, many women still find empowerment through their status:
"Women are the heart of the family, it is they who shape behavior,"
Rabat-based mourchidat Ait Said tells Elle. "'The most important thing we
do as mourchidat is transmit ideas to them, so that women can become the
solution to problems. The men will follow.'"
Original
Headline: Women Imams Around The World Challenge Male-Dominated Islam
Source: The World Crunch
URL: https://newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/from-france-china,-female-imams/d/123707
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