leading a Friday khutbah<\/a> on March 18. This story raises the larger issue of Muslim women and their place in Muslim society. Then I came across an email by a very good Muslim sister, Amina Peterson, who lives here in the Chicago area. What she said really blew my mind, and I had to write about it. It is very fitting given that International Women\u2019s Day is March 8.<\/p>\nSr. Amina began by saying,<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t go as far as to say that the breakdown of family equality and social justice is caused by the segregation of women in our community, but it is definitely somewhere very close to the root cause.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Well, then let me go so far: the segregation of women in our community has decimated the health of our community, and as long as our sisters are not fully engaged, we will be as a one-legged runner trying to win the Chicago Marathon.<\/p>\n
The sister continues:<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you can justify segregation of women in worship, which is the one place where desegregation should begin, then you can justify the second class citizenry of women in all aspects of daily life.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
What a powerful statement. Nothing more should be said.<\/p>\n
Go on, sister, tell it like it is:<\/p>\n
\u201cI really feel it is impossible for men to understand the plight of women struggling to worship in our zealously controlled mosques, just as white people will never understand the plight of blacks in our strangely racist society.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Guilty as charged. I don\u2019t know what it is like to be a Muslim woman. So, I\u2019ll let Sr. Amina tell us:<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you ever been to the tightly packed, loud, often filthy and neglected section that is called the women\u2019s section?\u2026Have you ever went to a class, possibly one of the most important in your life, and couldn\u2019t see the instructor? How difficult was it for you to understand? Pay attention? Have you ever seen someone become a scholar who never went to the mosque? Is female scholarship equally unimportant to you? How in the world of God do you honestly expect for a woman to be \u2018involved\u2019 in a mosque she has no place in? Actively participate? In what? From infancy, our Muslim men and women are being taught that the massala is this sacred place from which knowledge and spirituality are born, and the women shouldn\u2019t be there. If they come, we will put them in the basement, or the attic, or behind some curtain so that we don\u2019t have to be bothered with them. What kind of leadership is borne out of this? What kind of activism?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Wow! Her words opened my eyes to a world I really did not know existed. This is such an important issue, and it must be addressed immediately. I always felt that many, not all, mosques were very woman-unfriendly, but I never got the perspective of the women until Sr. Amina spoke up. We need more sisters to speak up! We need more sisters to assert their rightful place in our mosques, organizations, and institutions. We need more sisters to speak up, and we must stand by our sisters. Otherwise, the very survival of our community is in jeopardy.<\/p>\n
By the way, if I am to properly stand by my sister on the community level, then I should start at home on the family level. If I am to \u201cstand by my sister,\u201d then I must begin by treating my wife better. I am not saying that I am a bad husband, but I am certainly not perfect. I can always do better. I must always strive to live up to the Prophet\u2019s (pbuh) statement: \u201cThe best of you is the one who treats his wife in the best manner.\u201d Thus, I pledge to be a better husband and father, and I am doing so publicly. That way, I can\u2019t ever squirm out of that responsibility.<\/p>\n
<\/i><\/p>\n
Hesham A. Hassaballa is a Chicago physician and writer. He is the co-author of \u201cThe Beliefnet Guide to Islam<\/a>,\u201d published by Doubleday in 2006. His blog is at godfaithpen.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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