A downtown Los Angeles mosque that forbids men from attending may be the first of its kind in the US.
The Los Angeles Times reports that more than 100 women gathered on Friday at the interfaith Pico-Union Project for the inaugural prayer marking the launch of the Women’s Mosque of America, a nonprofit organization hoping to create space where Muslim women can learn and connect with other women.
“Muslim women haven’t had a forum,” Yasmeen Ruhge, a cardiologist from Pasadena, said as she waited for the service to begin. “When we go to the mosque, we have to sit on one side. Not that we aren’t equal, but this gives us a freedom to talk as all women and create an independent role.”
Female-only mosques exist in China, Chile and India, but Muslim leaders say this could be a first for the US. A 2011 study says about two-thirds of US mosques use a divider to separate men and women during morning prayers. The number may be higher for Friday prayers.
Such mosques allow women greater opportunities to ask the imam questions afterward. On Friday, a female speaker addressed women’s issues and held a discussion circle after the service.
“When only half of the membership is contributing to the success of the whole, we’re not going to be as well-off as we could be,” said M. Hasna Maznavi, who started the organization with Sana Muttalib.
Often spaces for women in many mosques are not as appealing or accessible as the areas for men, and women are forced to enter through side or back doors to reach their areas, Muttalib said.
Experts say there has been a growing call over the years for female empowerment in the Muslim community to help change public perception of the faith.
“One of the major ways that Islam is ‘othered — one of the major stereotypes — is how they treat women,” said Ruqayya Khan, chairwoman of Islamic studies at Claremont Graduate University. “But there is a rich history of women in Islam, and it’s often kind of sidelined or buried.”
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese