Women Claim Their Rightful
Place in The Mosques
Hoossain Rajah
Ibn Sina University, Mauritius
This week has seen a workshop on " L'ETHIQUE DU MUSULMAN' at the IIET, Moka, where the women audience far outnumbered the men. During the two-day meeting, again and again, the women claimed that "the portals of the Mosques are closed to them."
The women were outspoken in their views. They stated that Muslim women attending colleges, offices or just shopping find that the mosque doors closed for them. "Should we miss our prayers", they asked. They further remarked "men are praying inside,
while accompanying women have to sit idly outside Allah's house watching the prayer time slipping away."
The question is whether it would not be better for the women to be inside the sanctuary of the mosque then be left outside to be stared at by all and sundry. Does Islam prohibit the entry of women in the mosques? Contrary to popular belief, there is no restriction to such entry, provided that adequate facilities are made.
What does Al Quran say about this controversy?
There is no specific mention about the entry of women in the mosques, but Sūrah
Al Jumma (Al Jumma = assembly) states:
" O ye who believe! When the call is proclaimed to prayer on Friday (the day of assembly) hasten earnestly to the remembrance of God....." (62-9)
Are the believers only men?
Surely not, there is no gender difference between men and women on the question of worshiping the Creator.
However, mention is made in the Hadith about whether women should be denied access to the Mosque or not. In "Kitabul Juma", the book of Friday Prayer of Imam Bukhari who wrote two centuries after the death of the Prophet, he quoted the hadith:
Do not forbid the Mosques to the women of Allah"
Half a century later (300H), Imam Nassa'i in his book " Al-Sunnan" wrote in
the chapter of "Al- Masjid" about the specification of the rows between men and women and how far they should be from each
other. An indication that facilities for women to pray should be provided in the mosques. Imam Nassa'i quoted the prophet as saying:
"When a woman asks authorization from one of you to go the mosque,
let him grant it to her."
Many discourses have been written on the right of entry to mosques by women all backing the hadith quoted by Imam Bukhari, In Makkah al Mukaramah and Madina al Munawarrah, men and women pray together and there is no restriction. How close to each other man and woman can be than when doing the Tawaf of the Kabbah- nearly touching each other?
If such closeness was prohibited in Islam, the Wahabite Sheikhs of Saudi Arabia would have clamped down on the practice of the Tawaf- man and woman circumbulating next to other?
Where then, does this so-called restriction comes from?
It is said that it was Amir ul Mumineen, Umar who prevented women from attending the Mosque. It seems that this restriction is not quoted in context. The Mosque, at that time, were banned only to women who stayed behind for loitering and relaxation (istirwah) . Women who attended the obligatory prayers and Tarawih were not banned. To quote from "Al-Muhalla", "Umar made sure that the mosque had separate entrance and exit and that proper ablution facilities were provided."
Atika bin Zaid, Umar's wife used to go the Mosque, though Umar was not fully appreciative of this. Umar once said to her: " I swear that you know very well that I dislike your going to the Mosque." She said to Umar : " By Allah, I shall not stop until you forbid me." Umar replied: " I truly do not forbid you." It should be remembered that when Umar was stabbed to death in the Mosque, his beloved wife, Atika was at his side.
It is right to say that the Prophet sws said that the place for a woman to pray is in the privacy of her home but that was because of the family obligation of the woman. But to-day, things have changed, women are emancipated and are not at home all day long, they are in the work place. So should they wait until they get home in the evening to pray? Or should we not provide facilities for them in the palatial mosques , to fulfill their obligations to Allah swt. Al-Quran mentions repeatedly :" establish regular prayer", then why are we failing in our duty to fulfil this demand of our Lord for our working women? Should we deny them the opportunity to learn from the Friday Khutbahs? Should we deny the
underprivileged women of the ghettoes, cramped in a one -room accommodation, the
facilities of a clean and spacious place to say their prayers alongside their children?
We are certainly very far away from the ideal of the Prophet's mosque - open to all, welcoming all those interested in Islam , including women. Is it a betrayal of the Prophet's view of the ideal community? To day, women are declared persona non grata in the place of worship. In the days of our beloved Prophet, women had privileged access to the mosque as sahabiyyaat, companions. Women came to th Mosque to even challenge the Prophet and later the Caliphs if they disagreed with them.
"Le cri du coeur" of these women who attended the workshop was not only a battle for their rightful place in the mosque but a clear battle for their rightful place in the Muslim Community. How long can we deny them this right of entry? We could see, that day, so much talent and resources among these women. Should we not harness these talents for the welfare of the Muslim Community ? Clinging to age-old taboos which are not sanctioned within Islam will do us more harm than good in the longer term.
Allah u alam- Allah knows best.
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