US Muslim Women Solve Segregation Problem, Debut Own Mosque

A female-only mosque made its debut in Los Angeles on Friday, January 30, welcoming Muslim women from all over the US with open arms.

MOSCOW, January 31 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — The Women's Mosque of America made its debut in Los Angeles on Friday, welcoming Muslim women from all over the country.

"The emergence of a female-only mosque is a natural outcome of the culture of female exclusion in mosques across the country. A female-only mosque empowers women to take ownership of religious scholarship and spirituality in a safe and welcoming space," the Chicago-based writer Hind Makki told The Huffington Post.

The first American women's-only mosque was established by M. Hasna Maznavi, filmmaker and comedy writer, and Sana Muttalib, an attorney. Commenting on their project, Maznavi and Muttalib emphasized that while the teaching of Islam promotes the rights and equality of women, many mosques are segregated by gender. After the prayer, many women often fail to discuss spirituality issues with the imam, who usually holds meetings in the men's section of the mosque, where access is restricted for women. The women stressed that these post-"juma'a" (prayer) discussions are exceptionally important for all Muslims, and encourage them to ask questions related to faith and Islamic scholarship.

Pictures from the Women's #Mosque Friday prayer earlier today http://t.co/fQJhCBBQXA #mashallah #WomensMosque pic.twitter.com/pnIzSukJEX

— Muslim Feminist (@muslimfeminist) January 31, 2015

Makki, who has been exploring the issue for a long time, noted that many Muslim women felt abandoned and had expressed their frustration about the segregation practiced in mosques, adding that many men hadn't the slightest idea of how distressing the women's experience was.

#Women's only mosque @WomensMosque #Muslim #women set to make history in L.A http://t.co/vamkELlOO5 pic.twitter.com/L2bh5ehfDm

— AWomen◠‿◠) (@RockingAWomen) January 31, 2015

"They just had no idea that this was somewhat typical of women's experiences at a mosque – that you go to a mosque and you don't see a dome; you don't see the imam, certainly; you don't see the architecture – you see a big wall in front of you," Makki told NPR, stressing that most American mosques do little, if any to include women.

Thus far, the new female-only mosque is meant to solve the problem. On Friday, January 30, the first juma'a has been held in the Women's Mosque of America. Edina Lekovic, the Director of Policy & Programming at the Muslim Public Affairs Council, took part in the mosque's khutbah (sermon) and encouraged women to participate in a post-juma'a debate.

In an interview with the HuffPost, Maznavi and Muttalib, president and co-president of the mosque's board, respectively, revealed that their project had received high praise from the members of America's Muslim community, both men and women, who lauded the initiative to facilitate religious observance among women.