From November 4, Muslim women across 15 cities in India will pray the Friday prayers known as Jumah Namaz in masjids that are now more welcoming to female worshippers than in the past.
The weekly Friday prayer is required of all devout Muslims. It differs from the regular afternoon prayer (Zohar) because it includes a message and a special prayer. For a long time, women were discouraged from praying at masjids due to a lack of separate arrangements and the preponderance of male authority.
Profiles of women-friendly masjids have been compiled based on the accounts of worshippers who have been actively working with the mosque’s imams and administration over the past few years to gain entry.
Muslim Women Study Circle (MWSC), a group that emerged in 2019 as part of the protest against The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), is planning the initiative under the Muslim Women in Masjid project. The organization aims to create, encourage, and record women-only prayer rooms in India.
In addition to Nagpur and Mumbai, the MWSC has launched the campaign “Women in Masjid” in Guwahati, Dimapur, Jamshedpur, Bengaluru, Saharanpur, Kolkata, Purnea, Agra, Berhampore, Delhi, Hyderabad, Srinagar, and Aligarh.
These ladies have profiled mosques that are welcoming to women by sharing their experiences negotiating with imams and management to get entrance in recent years.
Law student and MWSC project program manager Tuba Sanober, remarked that many mosques have made accommodations for women to pray at any time of day or night, not just on Fridays. She explained that while some mosques may not have adequate space for women on Fridays, they are nevertheless open to them on other days when foot traffic is low.
To perform namaz in a mosque, she explained, is a Sunnah (Prophet’s tradition). Remembering the Prophet’s explicit instructions, we must ensure that no one forbids women from entering mosques. We work hard to ensure the mosque is welcoming to all people, including those with disabilities and young children. “Mosques need to be open to everyone, just like they were throughout the lifetime of our beloved Prophet,” she argued.
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