Women in Mosques: A response to comments on the “Women-Friendly Mosques” brochure

	“Women-friendly Mosques” document leaves unanswered questions – The “women-friendly mosques” document allows male-run mosques to obey the letter of the law without significantly improving the situation of women in US mosques today. (Read more…)

I am writing in response to your [Shahed Amanullah’s and Muqtedar Khan’s] respective columns regarding women’s mosque access issues. First, I want to say that I very much appreciate your positive responses to the mosque access brochure, and for highlighting its positive potential to play a transformative role, insha Allah. Also, I am grateful for your support on this issue of women’s inclusion. Below is some additional background information about brochure that I think important for you to know:

1. The document is not a response to Asra Nomani or Dr. Wadud’s public statements or positions. Sr. Shahina Siddiqui of Islamic Social Services Association, started the project in 2001. Sr. Shahina had also collected data from women about their perspectives, which was included in this document. Activists and community leaders have been quietly working behind the scenes for very many years to create more openness in mosques and Muslim organizations. They have not called media attention to their work, but this does not mean they were not busy!
2. As stated in various recent news articles on this issue, partly because Sr. Shahina did not have the resources (a testament to a lack of investment by our community in such projects), work on this project was delayed. After she began to work on it again about a year and a half ago, Women In Islam, Inc. joined this project. Together, we worked hard to collect input and feedback from Muslim scholars as well as community members to produce the document in its final form.
3. It is not a CAIR document. It was publicized to media via CAIR. As CAIR’s press release notes, it was co-authored by ISSA and Women In Islam, Inc.
4. Part of the reason why this document took long to be published is that we took great care and a consensus approach to incorporate input from Muslim scholars as well as endorsements from major Muslim organizations. Also, the hard and behind the scenes work of community activists who have continued to address this issue over years has slowly created an opinion shift that allowed major Muslim organizations to stand behind this document. This is not to ignore that folks in the PMU and Dr. Wadud drew U.S. media attention to this issue. It is important to note that the concerns are widely shared and that some of the mainstream organizations can become and are allies in moving forward on inclusion of women (as does Dr. Khan).
5. Both ISSA and Women In Islam, Inc. approached different individuals at MAS to support this document. We value their support. However, we were unable to make direct contact with Dr. Ghannouchi within the time we had, before the document was printed.
6. altmuslim.com’s criticisms of the mosque brochure note that it does not directly address “ultraconservative” mosques. As an organization advocating for human rights and social justice, we like to be more careful about the use of terms such as conservative, liberal/progressive (given the political and civil rights climate, especially for those deemed to be “conservative” and we do not want to further the cause of those who seek to divide us). Nevertheless, we do recognize that some mosques will be more open to change than others. It is possible that these mosques can create a momentum for those that are less inclined to change. In working on this document, we considered the possibility that we will get strong reactions against this brochure, and the careful language reflects our effort to produce a document that would have wider acceptance and is also consistent with Qur’an and Hadith.
7. It is also important to note that the document deals with a range of changes that might be possible or desired in different settings. We think it is important to take a broader approach given the diversity of the Muslim community. We also make an explicit statement that we want communities themselves to decide how to go about implementing the changes we suggest-we believe that each community must engage in dialogue to determine the priority areas for change, rather than change being imposed from outside (such as through legal recourse). We value the process of initiating change and making a commitment to it, as much as the outcomes. We want to reinstate community level decision-making by mutual consultation, which is itself an important aspect of being more inclusive of women.
8. We take a long view on the change process, and we know that not all suggestions can be implemented at once. Because we are talking about shifts in mindsets, this process may take years. But insha Allah, we have collectively, as individuals and organizations, helped set the stage for leaders and community members to engage the issues, should they choose.

Thank you again for your interest and your attention.

Sarah Sayeed is a board member of Women In Islam, and Aisha Al-Adawiya is the Executive Director of Women In Islam.