As a young girl growing up in California’s largest mosque, I always felt welcomed and included. Women were on the Board, my sister was president of the youth group, men and women of all cultures prayed together in the same space.
Once I left home and began exploring mosques outside Southern California, I realized many didn’t reflect the same sense of community I’d always taken for granted. Many mosques favored cultural practices of secluding women over Islamic practices of inclusion. I saw women separated from men by a curtain, behind a wall, or praying in another room entirely. I felt cut off from my ummah, from access to knowledge, and from the beauty of my ummah’s diversity. It was hard not to internalize this disconnect in God’s houses as a lack of worthiness of my connection to God altogether. I wanted to return to the Islam of my youth.
It was only in college, after finishing Muhammad Asad’s English translation of the Qur’an, that I felt empowered to demand inclusion. No longer could anyone convince me that these customs were ordained by Islam – my proof was in God’s Word. I soon discovered the rich history of Muslim women’s involvement in Islamic scholarship and leadership – most surprisingly, that the Prophet Muhammad more than once instructed a woman to lead a mixed-congregation prayer.
I started studying under a female sheikhs and hafidtha, and the learning from a female religious authority inspired me to build America’s first Women’s Mosque. My dream is to create a safe space that encourages leadership and scholarship for all Muslim women. Together, we can help return the ummah to a day where women’s voices, perspectives, and experiences are held in as high regard as they were during the earliest days of Islam – when our beloved Prophet fought tooth and nail to uphold women’s rights in the midst of his society. To make him proud by restoring our ummah’s beautiful light would be the greatest achievement possible. InshAllah, that will be the art of our return.
