Women-led prayer controversy: The Lilith prayer: Female imam sparks global controversy

Will this tour be a sellout?

In a major city like New York, a Friday prayer of around 100 people would usually be no big deal. But last Friday’s groundbreaking prayer, featuring Dr. Amina Wadud leading a mixed-gender congregation, was no ordinary one. It caused quite a stir among many in the Middle East, who weren’t prepared to see pictures of a woman leading Friday prayers, along with men and hijab-less women shoulder-to-shoulder for full dramatic effect. It’s all part of a movement designed to counter the growing segregation of women in US mosques and their denial of leadership positions. “It’s not about telling other Muslims how they should worship,” said Ahmed Nassef, one of the event’s organizers and editor of Muslim WakeUp. “We just need to be open to new ideas.” Scholars from around the Muslim world, such as Qatar’s Yusuf al-Qaradawi, were somewhat unanimous in their opposition, mostly focusing on women’s posteriors – unfortunately, no pun intended – as their main reasoning behind the ban. (Wouldn’t putting men behind that increasingly popular mosque partition solve that problem?) And a rumored endorsement of the practice from Sheikh Ali Gum’a, Egypt’s top Islamic authority, was offset by an apparent denial the next day. Reaction from Muslim organizations within the states was somewhat muted, aside from the occasional form-letter position paper. So what happens now? Will women-led Friday prayers continue? (Organizers pledge to do so.) Will they start appearing in other cities across the country? (Secret women-led prayer sessions are rumored to be planned for various cities across North America.) Will the move catch on in mainstream mosques? It’s unlikely, though one effect that is certain to occur is that the rights of women in the mosque – if only on paper – will generally increase to make them seem “moderate” in comparison to the “extreme” position of the progressives. And despite which side of the debate you’re on, that can only be a good thing.

Shahed Amanullah is editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com.