Ok – I invite you to learn more about the movement including the documents that I provided to the mosque management before the protests, reports of our protests and various discussions at our Fan Page (Facebook) – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Washington-DC/STAND-IN/303158365675
(we will be setting up a webpage/blog with the new name ‘PRAY IN’ soon).

Now I am going to respond to ‘loveProphet’ – his comments below with my response in brackets [ ].

Firstly it is true that it would be unfair to have equal space in the Mosque since it is an obligation for men to pray and therefore they outnumber women for prayer times and in Jumuah there is a lack of space.
[This is not a space issue, it is about power and control... even in smaller mosques where there is overflow of men - they solve it by two congregation prayers held one after the other. I have seen men prayer areas that are huge and are only filled about 20% while the women are off to another room 1/3 the size and filled to capacity with the women and ALL the school children.]

Secondly the women should have a good and decent place.
[No contest. Agreed and absolutely.]

Thirdly once Sayyidina Umar(RA) told some men off for using the entrance of women to the Mosque so the establish of having separate entrances is well established Islamically. And there were barriers at the time of the Sahaba no doubt so calling the segregation a bid’a is acknowledgement of gross ignorance of the texts.

[You mention the Khalif Umar - who lead after the time of the Prophet - and then mention an event that happened during his rule, after the death of the prophet and then saying it is well established “islamically”… Islam was given to us by the Qur’an and the Prophet. The Prophet himself said in his farewell speech “today I have perfected and completed your religion…”. Even if we agree that what a Khalif said or did is sufficient basis for the establishment of something as “Islamic” to have men and women enter from separate doors is not the same as having barriers in place or relegating them to separate rooms. This was not the practice of the Prophet – who perfected and completed our religion. ]

Fourthly, protesting like this has not been the practise in Islam and it isn’t the right way to go about this situation. When did any group, men, women, tribes etc go about taking over the places of others in protest like these sisters did? [Actually, protests were the practice of Islam – Mohamed walked into the Kaaba and destroyed the idols… this is just one example. And we did not “take over the places of others” – we took our rightful place on the main prayer area behind the men. When we were finished we left and the mosque was in the same condition as when we arrived.]

Fifthly, we shouldn’t be forcing opinions on others but these sisters are trying to do that here. [We are not forcing our opinions on anybody. We are simply trying to be heard. I said earlier that we tried to give plenty of opportunity for discussion but we were ignored.]
Sixthly, a lot of these movements for rights need to look at the texts and proofs and religion from an Islamic perspective. There’s too much selfishness and distortiong being done to get rights and also a western paradigm or frame of reference is being used to analyse Islamic practises and texts. They are very different. One wonders, were any of the Awliya(including women) from the modernists of today’s times? Rights are determined by Allah Most High and therefore we need to see the rights by refering to Islam. We can’t impose rights in Islam just because we believe the propaganda that certain ideologies in the west are promoting. [it is interesting that you speak of “selfishness” in the context of movements for rights… since when does the concepts of one’s rights become selfish? Men have a right to be at the mosque but I would never selfish for them to do so. However, we might assign the term selfish to the practice of setting up tables of refreshments that are made available to the men and not to the women. That is selfish. If the women then walk over to collect some of the refreshments to distribute to other thirsty or hungry women would that then be selfish? No, they are simply exercising their rights.]

Finally, for those who seem to oppose mainstream Islam, this Hadith is enough:
“Allah’s hand is over the group, follow the largest group, for verily whoever dissents from them departs to hell.” [Oh, knowledgeable one I challenge you on two things here… one, please provide that proper references for this hadith (narrator, isnaad and grading) two, we all know from our experience here in America, and even more so in other countries with despotic, tyrannical leadership that the majority can still be wrong. The Beloved Prophet himself was ONE only and he was right. As YOU YOURSELF said in your statement, the issue of barriers and gender segregation is an innovation (bida’a) and the division (fitnah) it and its promoters cause is due to them alone – not those who are challenging it.]

By the way “loveProphet”… I am posting this statement on the Fan Page where, if you are so inclined, you may view any discussion that continues about it.
Your sister in faith,
Fatima

I see a lot of emotion here and a lot of intellectual discourse missing.
A few things need to be said. Firstly it is true that it would be unfair to have equal space in the Mosque since it is an obligation for men to pray and therefore they outnumber women for prayer times and in Jumuah there is a lack of space.
Secondly the women should have a good and decent place.
Thirdly once Sayyidina Umar(RA) told some men off for using the entrance of women to the Mosque so the establish of having separate entrances is well established Islamically. And there were barriers at the time of the Sahaba no doubt so calling the segregation a bid’a is acknowledgement of gross ignorance of the texts.
Fourthly, protesting like this has not been the practise in Islam and it isn’t the right way to go about this situation. When did any group, men, women, tribes etc go about taking over the places of others in protest like these sisters did?
Fifthly, we shouldn’t be forcing opinions on others but these sisters are trying to do that here.
Sixthly, a lot of these movements for rights need to look at the texts and proofs and religion from an Islamic perspective. There’s too much selfishness and distortiong being done to get rights and also a western paradigm or frame of reference is being used to analyse Islamic practises and texts. They are very different. One wonders, were any of the Awliya(including women) from the modernists of today’s times? Rights are determined by Allah Most High and therefore we need to see the rights by refering to Islam. We can’t impose rights in Islam just because we believe the propaganda that certain ideologies in the west are promoting.
Finally, for those who seem to oppose mainstream Islam, this Hadith is enough:
“Allah’s hand is over the group, follow the largest group, for verily whoever dissents from them departs to hell.”
Use reason people.

Wa salam

I couldn’t have said it better! May God bless and protect you and yours.

And to sister Jannah, I will keep you in my prayers. Stay strong and resolute in your endeavor. I look forward to see how things progress. I am with you.

(I KNOW!)God is with us.

Well said Rochelle! I found Stacy’s argument of ‘since you dissent you must be against the religion itself’ so ridiculous that I think she must be a Troll (someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community to provoke a response).

So sister Fatima turned to nonviolent direct action, civil disobedience, to bring about change for justice, as the next step up after having her attempts to open dialogue totally stonewalled repeatedly.

This movement is only demanding one thing: To let women pray in the same main open space as the men (behind them in all-women rows). This is fully supported by sunnah, and we consider the segregation of women in the mosque to be a bid‘ah (reprehensible innovation). We have carried out two actions in the Islamic Center already, by simply going quietly in the main entrance (which has been restricted to men) and praying our nawafil and jama‘ah prayers and quietly doing dhikr of Allah. For this they called the cops on us and had us thrown out, threatening to arrest us. We are moving forward with this, so look for more media about us coming up soon, in sha’ Allah.

“calling these laws unfair is calling Allah unjust”:

I see you’re using a computer. I don’t recall the Prophet using a computer. Come to think of it, I don’t think a lot of mojtaheds use computers. And they are the learned ones. Are you a mojtahed? (Of course you’re not — you’re a woman.) You must not be learned. I guess by using a computer you’re just calling the Prophet and all the Mojtaheds unjust. And by calling them unjust, you’re also calling Allah unjust. Why do you hate Islam so much?

Enough with the sarcasm…

I’ve heard this time and time again: ‘You dissent the mainstream interpretation, so you must be against the religion itself.’ By libeling these women, accusing them of ‘calling Allah unjust’, you are silencing their agency, voice, and intellect that Allah gave them in the first place. You put them on the defensive. Now not only do they have to argue for justice to their grievances, they also have to prove to you that they are really Muslim. It’s an extremely affective tactic to silence dissent and strangle constructive dialogue.

So I applaud you for your emphatic attempt to retain the status quo.

Fortunately, though anyone with half a brain and a Quran can see through the bs.