http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/03/19/woman_leads_mixed_gender_islamic_service/
Amina Wadud, professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University,
went against Islamic tradition and led a prayer service attended by about 100
men and women yesterday in New York. Generally, women sit separately from men
and are not allowed to lead a prayer service involving men. (AP)
Woman leads mixed-gender Islamic service
Group protests outside church
By Tatsha Robertson, Globe Staff | March 19, 2005
NEW YORK -- With a heavy police presence keeping about a dozen protesters
at bay, a woman went against hundreds of years of Islamic tradition by leading
a prayer service yesterday where Muslim men and women sat together and
worshiped inside an Upper Westside Episcopal church.
Speaking in soft tones, Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at
Virginia Commonwealth University, led a 90-minute service at the hall of Synod
House at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, an Episcopal church on 110th
Street.
''The issue of gender equality is a very important one in Islam, and
Muslims have unfortunately used highly restrictive interpretations of history
to move backward," Wadud said just before the service.
The event -- sponsored by the Muslim Women's Freedom Tour, a grass-roots
organization, and MuslimWakeUp.com, a website -- has sparked debate and sharp
criticism from Muslim leaders. Asra Nomani, an organizer and founder of the
freedom tour, said the event was meant to reclaim Muslim women's rights. She
released a bill of rights demanding that Muslim women be allowed to be imams,
or prayer leaders, and to stand in the front rows of mosque. Generally, women
sit separately from men in prayer services and are not allowed to lead a
service involving men.
''Muslim women are moving from the back of the mosque to the front of the
mosque," she said.
About 100 people attended the service, half of them women, many of whom
wore flowing dresses and scarves. Some of the men at times looked nervous or
unsure they should be there. Outside the Gothic church, a small group of
Muslims held up signs protesting the prayer service. Organizers said three New
York City mosques refused to host the event, which was to be held at a SoHo
gallery until it received a bomb threat. Those who wanted to attend the service
had to send an e-mail notice ahead of time and submit to a body search.
''I thought it was intense and I thought her talk was enlightening, but I
could feel some nervousness in the atmosphere. But that is to be expected due
to the circumstances," said Abdul Alim Mubarak, 53, of New Jersey, who attended
the service. Mubarak, who is African-American, said he believes women should be
leaders in every aspect of society, but, he said, ''I still haven't wrapped my
brain around the premise that women should lead men in prayer. I am just not
sure of that."
Omar Haque, a Harvard University graduate student, said he believed the
event made history.
''I think it's a long time coming," said Haque, 25, an American of
Pakistani descent. ''It sent a message to the many Muslims who felt their
message had been misrepresented." He said he particularly liked the fact that
Wadud, who is African-American, used ''he" and ''she" in the service to
describe Allah. Continued...
1 2 Next
Page 2 of 2 -- But not everyone was happy about the service. Some Muslims
stood outside the church holding signs that read ''Mix-gender prayer today.
Hell fire tomorrow."
''You always have the men up front and the women in the back. It's been
that way for 1,400 years," said Mohamed Nussrah, a 21-year-old protester. ''But
this comes out of nowhere and it makes all Muslims look bad."
Widad Aqrad, 40, of New Jersey, said Wadud did not speak for Muslim
women. ''We are really angry," she said, minutes after being forbidden from
entering the service. ''She doesn't represent us, she represents herself. She
represents her rules, her ideas."
Khabira Abdullah, 30, of New York City, however, believed Wadud's action
justified what many Muslim women silently believed should have happened long
ago.
''I think it was powerful and amazing," she said. ''I was born and raised
a Muslim. The message has always been that women have a place in Islam, but
it's not in the leadership position. When people asked me why, I used whatever
reason to answer, but I never believed it."
Sheik Sayed Tantawi of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque, one of the world's top
Islamic institutions, said Islam permits women to lead other women in prayer
but not a congregation with men in it.
''A woman's body is private," Tantawi wrote about yesterday's service in
a column in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram. ''When she leads men in prayer, in
this case, it's not proper for them to look at the woman whose body is in front
of them. Even if they see it in their daily life, it shouldn't be in situations
of worship, where the main point is humility and modesty." Some scholars and
religious leaders agreed.
But Kolay Tun, 40, a New Yorker and Burma native, said he decided to
attend the service after receiving a note from his niece that read, ''Allah is
not prejudiced, are you?" Holding the note in his hand, he said: ''I feel good.
This is to me like Rosa Parks sitting in front of the bus. This is a great
beginning for the Islamic world."
Material from the Associated Press was used in this report.
© Copyright 2005 Globe Newspaper Company.
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