Earlier I made this post about how his lecture “add years to your marriage” contains some very questionable statements about marriage and women in general (time limits and required courses for women to take before getting married and women being inferior to men). Apparently he has come back on these statements in more recent lectures. I don’t know if he has come back on them word for word or has just changed his opinion on these matters, which is evident in what he has said since then. I would advise that if anyone has this lecture to delete it, especially if they are sharing it online. Misinformation does not need to be spread over and over again.

haf-025:

This is a hot topic i’m sure. This post is more of a rant and it’s a massive topic so I’m just going to stick to Muslim feminists.

Feminism and feminist movements have been around for a while, say most of the 19th and 20th century. Women were protesting for the right to vote amongst other things.

It continues till this day with movements for equal pay, unfair treatment at work, the right to wear what they want, freedom for oppressed and abused women and many more movements.  

These days the rise of the ‘Muslim Feminist’ is becoming more noticeable across the globe. Muslim women all over are rising up, some shouting out for equal pay at work, whilst others are saying that women should be praying with men. 

“Muslim Feminist” is an oxymoron. Being Muslim means you submit to the will of Allah, and so follow His commands as best as you can. So that covers what our role, rights and duties as a Muslim woman are.

Feminism on the other hand is the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. But Allah and his prophet have already told us what those are, the mothers of Islam are our examples and so there’s no need for this title. 

Most noticeably ‘fighting for womens rights’ on a self-righteous crusade is Mona eltahawy. She seems for some reason or another to be at the fore front of this Muslim womens movement, and many for some bizarre reason,look up to her. 

The problem I have with her, is as I do with this notion of a ‘Muslim Feminist’ is

Read More

I understand where you are coming from and with secular feminist, like little miss Mona, falsely adopting the titles of “Muslim feminist” or “Islamic Feminist”, it’s easy to get confused as to what exactly Islamic feminism truly is. I actually started my blog as an Islamic feminist blog and I am a salafi Muslim. Imagine that? I don’t believe there is an ounce of gender inequality or sexism in Islam whatsoever. I believe that our prophets were feminists in that they fought for women’s rights and many of them were greatly mocked and criticized for their views on women (Isa alayhi salam and Muhammad sallallahu alayhi wasallam being prime examples of this). http://zombiejihadi.tumblr.com/post/2942077337/whats-in-a-name-an-essay-by-a-feminist-of-faith was my very first post on tumblr and I highly recommend reading it if you would like to gain a little understanding on what it means to be a Muslim feminist. If you’re interested, you can just check out all my tags on the subject http://zombiejihadi.tumblr.com/tagged/islamic%20feminism

I hope you change your mind about Islamic feminism. Islam is full of feminist principles and is one of the millions of reasons why this is the perfect religion. Islam in itself does not need “feminist reform”, such a suggestion is absurd but we can’t tell people like Mona Eltahawy anything like that, hence why she is not a real Muslim feminist. What can be said and should be said is that MUSLIMS need feminist reform and that is only going to be accomplished by going back to the Islam that the salaf were upon- the correct, original, and perfect Islam. So for me, being salafi and an Islamic feminist is not contradictory at all when you look at it from that perspective.

She’s always talking about the “awful” reactions from Muslim men but I don’t think I’ve ever heard he talk about the reactions from Muslim women. I’m curious as to what she has to say about the numerous Muslim women who hate her and oppose every single one of her views. I would really like to hear her thoughts on being a defender of women who hate her. Is she just oblivious to the fact that very few Muslim women actually appreciate her “work”? It must be depressing to devote your life to fighting for women who would rather you just give it up, though something tells me all of the white feminist support makes up for it.

playingthecards:

Just read “Why Do They Hate Us?”, the Foreign Policy article by Egyptian-American journalist Mona Eltahawy on abuses against women in Arab nations (“Arab” was her choice of descriptor). Sadly, none of it surprised me; as helpful as it is to have the horror stories and abuses laid out in one place, I’ve heard them all before. 

Perhaps ironically, I couldn’t get over the photograph used to publicized the article that was displayed both on the Foreign Policy cover and throughout the piece. A few thoughts:

• This woman is naked. (In terms of her body type and the amount of apparent airbrushing that went on here, she also looks like she just stepped off of the Victoria’s Secret runway.) I’m not sure if I’m ready to make a value judgment on this one— many would argue that nudity can be beautiful/empowering/sexually liberating/etc. It’s interesting to ask though: Was this a choice to sell the magazine? Or was it truly a question of empowerment? Which brings me to…
• This woman is in defensive and vulnerable positions despite the fact that she represents an article that, at its conclusion, lauds the inner strength of oppressed women. 
• This woman is painted black on every part of her body except her eyes, ostensibly implying a burka. Burkas, niqabs, hijabs, etc. are so often used as a symbol of women’s oppression; as Western readers, we rarely question this symbolism. And yet, I have many friends who proudly and deliberately choose wear the hijab, seeing it as an emblem of their relationship with their faith. Who are we to dissuade Muslim women of their faith, especially in a country where we at once encourage and discourage dress that also implies a gendered power dynamic?

THIS

theuncolonizedmind:

sharquaouia:

It all started this morning when Kawlture suggested we feature the Foreign Policy issue cover on our blog, the Mainstream Media and the Orient. I was on my phone and could not see the cover clearly. At first, I thought it was blackface, but upon zooming in and reading the the featured article title by Mona Eltahawy, my eyes weren’t fooling me. It really was a woman covered in a black body-painted niqab. 

They tell you don’t judge a book by its cover. But I, as an Arab-American Muslim woman, could not get that image out of my head long enough to even begin reading Mona’s article. I kept thinking about how the image degraded and insulted every woman I know that wears or has ever worn the niqab. The face veil is rooted in pre-Islamic history, and I’m not going to delve into it. If you want a more comprehensive read, I recommend Leila Ahmed’s Women and Gender in Islam.

Today, those who are fixated on the niqab believe that focusing on what a Muslim woman wears is what defines her thought, her intellect, her capabilities, her sexuality, her gender, her very existence. It’s a narrative that’s been framed by the West and fed by the likes of Qasim Amin and even Hoda Sha’rawi. FP’s decision to chose this photograph of a naked woman with a body-painted niqab embodies this problematic narrative in more ways than one:

1. This inherent sexualization of the niqab through the pose and exposure of the female form revives the classic harem literature and art, presenting the Arab and/or Muslim woman as “exotic” and “mysterious,” but still an object. An object lacking the agency to define herself, thus defined by others.
2. All of the women close to me who wear the niqab do so for different reasons. One friend only wears the niqab when she goes protesting because she feels comfortable in it. Another friend has worn the niqab, against the will of her family, since she was 14 out of her own free will. The representation of the niqab as splattered body paint on a naked woman degrades the decision of women who wear the niqab as a choice.
3. The feature of an Arab woman’s article on the front cover does not justify the editorial choice to use the image. Mona Eltahawy was notoriously owned during a debate over the niqab ban in France, where she took the position in favor of the ban. Her stance on the niqab is convenient to the narrative being perpetuated by the problematic image.

But I digress. On to Mona’s article, titled “Why Do They Hate Us.” As a writer, I’m aware that editors sometimes propose titles, but they usually inform writers of that change. At least, that was my experience with Foreign Policy (it was a piece they never published). However, immediately, the title sets off an alarm: the use of the first-person-plural. The first-person-plural can be appropriately used when the speaker has been elected to speak on behalf of the group they are speaking on behalf of. In this case, the “They” being Arab societies and “Us” being Arab women. Mona’s self-appointed representation of Arab women is neither professional nor accurate. While I sincerely value the freedom of self-expression and have not one problem with her expressing her views, but to do so on the behalf of all Arab women is enraging.

Her article presents a summary and background of the treatment of women in the region, paired with statistics and specific examples of cases from countries throughout the region, fluffed with emotional rhetoric, ending with a call for fighting against injustices. Every now and then, a different image of the nude woman with the body-painted niqab interrupts the commentary, fueling the rage all over again. 

She includes bits like:

“I’ll never forget hearing that if a baby boy urinated on you, you could go ahead and pray in the same clothes, yet if a baby girl peed on you, you had to change. What on Earth in the girl’s urine made you impure? I wondered. Hatred of women.”

And,

“The Islamist hatred of women burns brightly across the region — now more than ever.”

Also,

“But at least Yemeni women can drive. It surely hasn’t ended their litany of problems, but it symbolizes freedom.”

Concluding with,

“We are more than our headscarves and our hymens. Listen to those of us fighting. Amplify the voices of the region and poke the hatred in its eye.”

The entire article is framed in a way that portrays Arab women as helpless, and in need of rescue and protection. It’s a convenient narrative for FP’s mostly Western-based readership. No mention ofTawakul Karman,ZainabandMaryam al-Khawaja, etc.—women who rose through the revolutions and were present in the public sphere during protests and demonstrations, standing alongside their compatriots demanding change and an end to injustices of all kinds. These women stood up as individuals and not as self-proclaimed representatives of Arab women.

Mona points to “hate” as the source and cause of the injustices committed against Arab women. She scapegoats the rise of the Islamists, butMaya Mikdashi debunked that argument a couple months ago:

“Gender equality and justice should be a focus of progressive politics no matter who is in power. A selective fear of Islamists when it comes to women’s and LGBTQ rights has more to do withIslamophobia than a genuine concern with gender justice. Unfortunately, Islamists do not have an exclusive license to practice patriarchy and gender discrimination/oppression in the region. The secular state has been doing it fairly adequately for the last half a century.”

Yet, she entirely neglects the socioeconomic roots of gender inequality, the rise of authoritarian regimes in a post-colonialist context, the remnants of dehumanization and oppression from colonialism, the systematic exclusion of women from the political system or those who are used as convenient tools for the regime. There is more to gender inequality than just “hate.”

The true fight should be against the monolithic representation of women in the region, illustrated by an over-sexualized image of splattered black paint over a nude body. This does nothing to rectify the position of women in ANY society. 

Thank the Lord. Oh God. This is perfect. EVERYONE READ THIS.

Please read all of this and reblog it.

These are facts. Sexism toward women in Islam exists the world over but be mindful of which sect it originated in. When our scholars call for more women to be educated in the masjid and to attend the masjid as much as possible and they (the scholars) speak out against barriers in the masjid that prevent the women from hearing and seeing the imam; that prevent them from being part of the congregation; that prevent them from perfecting their prayer, they are still called sexist somehow. This is ignorance. Salafi has become a buzz word that is automatically associated with sexism but among the salafiyoon you will find the most pro-women Muslims in the world.

The imam made it clear that he prefers and expects the women to pray in the same room as the men, provided that there is space, which is always the case with the exception of jum’uah prayer (since the men practically pray on top of each other for this one). 

Reasons:

1. This is the sunnah.
2. This is the sunnah
3. This is the sunnah.

Questions?

beautifulqalb:

Muslim Male Privilege Checklist

In the spirit of B. Deutsch’s The Male Privilege Checklist and Peggy McIntosh’s White: Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, I decided to create a Muslim Male Privilege Checklist. I realize these kinds of lists usually come from benefactor of privilege and not those who are disadvantaged by it. But I had to do it. Insha’allah I will keep adding to the list as I think about things.

Keep in mind I have written it from a perspective of a Muslim man…

As a Muslim man:

1. I can set foot in any masjid I like. No one will stop me at the door and tell me that I am not allowed in the masjid.

2. When I attend Jumah prayer I know that I will have full access to the main prayer hall. I can enter through the front door and I am not required to sit behind a partition, one-way mirror or placed in a separate room. Also, I can see and hear the Imam when he is giving the kutbah (sermon). I do not have to worry about a speaker or closed-circuit system malfunctioning thereby preventing me from hearing the kutbah or seeing the Imam.

3. My voice is not interpreted as being a part of my awrah (parts of the body that are not meant to be exposed in public.) I can stand up and speak freely in an Islamic gathering. I can ask questions or challenge statements made by the imam or visiting speaker without worrying that my actions will be viewed as inappropriate. I am not told that I must write any questions I have onto a piece of paper.

4. I can use my position as a sheikh, scholar or imam to perpetuate my own sexist, misogynistic beliefs as long as I incorporate those beliefs into my interpretation of the Quran and the Sunnah. When others challenge me about my beliefs I can use my Islamic education, command of the Arabic language and position in the community to effectively silence them. If the dissenters are women, I can always make them seem crazy, emotional or neurotic. I can also accuse them of being influenced by the West, Western secularism, Feminism or “the Kufaar.”

5. If I do not dress in accordance with Islamic guidelines, for the most part, I am left alone by Muslims of both genders. Few people will approach me and inquire about the way in which I am dressed. I will not be written off as a “bad Muslim” nor will my dress code be used as an excuse to prevent me from attending the masjid or other Islamic functions.

6. Interpretations of Quran and Ahadith, fatwas, kutbahs, and Islamic books are often biased in favor of my gender. The body of scholarship produced by members of my gender is available and accessible to all. Their texts, legal opinions and names have not been ignored or virtually erased from Islamic history.

7. When I read a book about marriage, my rights and responsibilities or gender dynamics in Islam, the author is almost always the same gender as me. It is the same when I wish to contact a scholar in regards to any questions I might have.

8. If I have problems in my marriage I can go to an Imam for counseling services and I don’t have to be concerned about sexism or his “traditional” views of women.

9. If I become visibly upset during a marriage counseling session, I am not told that I am too emotional and therefore incapable of thinking logically or making major decisions about my marriage. On the contrary, any decisions I make are presumed to be well thought-out.

10. If I wish to end my marriage, my decision is not scrutinized by an imam or other members of the Muslim community. It is respected as the final one. I am not denied a divorce or told to make tremendous personal sacrifices in order to remain in the marriage.

11. When I convert to Islam, if I have the means (or the financial support of others), I can travel aboard to predominately Muslim countries in order to seek Islamic knowledge. I can be sure that my gender will not be a hindrance any way. At the same time, no one will ever tell me that I must wait until I am married in order to begin my travels.

12. I can stand up for the rights Allah has given me or challenge interpretations of those rights without people associating me with secularist Muslim movements.

13. If I cannot have children or suffer from a condition that interferes with my ability to have sexual intercourse I do not have to worry about my wife taking a second husband. Even if/when she decides to divorce me I can be sure that an imam or other community members will ask her to reconsider her decision.

14. If I am struggling with the temptation to fornicate, I know that I can discuss my predicament with an Imam or other Muslim men without fear that they will think I’m lewd or promiscuous.

15. I am not a visible representative of Islam. When I interact with non-Muslim colleagues, co-workers and members of the general public they may not necessarily know that I am a Muslim. Unless I make my religion/ethnicity known, I am not subjected to a barrage of questions about Islam, Muslims and my gender’s status in the religion. (The exception here would be Muslim men who don a thobe, turban, and wear a lengthy beard. Also, brothers who clearly appear to be Indian/Pakistani or Arab in the eyes of the public).

16. When a visiting scholar/imam comes to the masjid, by virtue of the seating arrangements (men in the front, no partition between the speaker and the men), I am able to speak with him face-to-face. I do not have to worry about crossing into “the women’s space” in order to ask a question or to make a comment.

It takes a real Muslim man to acknowledge that all of these are true.

remorsecode:

Okay Hadiyah I just read this and I have no doubt you are referring to my question I had on niqab, yes?

• Yes. I was.

zombiejihadi:

“NO. I recently read a post from a brother who argued that niqab is a fitnah in the west and I really wanted to smash something after reading it. First of all, Muslim women are done giving f’s when it comes to what brothers think about our clothing choices. DONE. It isn’t about what you (brothers) think about hijab nor niqab and it isn’t about what you (brothers) want to see or would rather see.”

This is the problem with ultra feminism. Could you please explain to me why this is not sexist?

Because a man taking the position of ‘I’m going to tell you what to do with your body’ is sexist, therefore responding to this in the negative is not sexist. It’s not rocket science.

Why is a man’s opinion invalid?

Never said it was. A man has a right to his opinion but his opinion does not matter when it comes to what a woman should do with her body.

Islam is about equality between the genders. All scholars and people of knowledge are allowed to give knowledge, knowledge has no gender. So why are you saying things like you men have no right, you men have no say. Correct me if I’m wrong but this religion came from the tongue of a man yet we don’t revere his greatness because he happens to be a man

I’m just going to stop you right there  because you’re making a fool out of yourself. Young man, it is embarrassing to read this. YOU ARE NOT THE PROPHET. MEN ARE NOT THE PROPHET. REVELATION BEING REVEALED TO A MAN DOES NOT MEAN THAT MEN ARE SUPERIOR OR THAT WE HAVE TO LISTEN TO EVERY SINGLE MAN THAT COMES AFTER OUR BELOVED PROPHET (SALLALLAHU ALAYHI WASALLAM) And who isn’t acknowledging his greatness? You can’t even properly wish blessings upon him after his name. Seriously that last comment had nothing to do with this post. Way to just throw in accusations there, little buddy.

we look at him as a Muslim and as a human being. This is just completely sexist, no other way to look at it.

OK. Lol.

“It’s about serving Allah and Allah alone. If a sister thinks wearing niqab is going to bring her closer to Allah then more power to her and I’ll be damned if some brother is going to sit there and say ‘well I would rather that my wife not even bother with wearing niqab because I don’t want her causing any fitnah’. No. F you. You don’t get to do that. You don’t get to pressure your wife into dressing a certain way because you can’t seem to wrap your mind around the concept of putting your trust in Allah.”

I never ever suggested niqab is haram which is what you are implying I made out.

Wrong again. Where did I say that you felt that niqab was haram? Nowhere.

If a sister believes it will bring her closer to Allah, sure, by all means, go ahead. I didn’t say don’t. All I said was that perhaps there are better ways to present yourself in a society that will be intimidated by you.

And what else is this other than pressuring a woman to do what would please you rather than what would please Allah. Face it. Your point is invalid. It would be just as invalid if you were a woman saying it.

Westerns are less likely to ask someone about Islam and to receive dawah from someone who wears the niqab. That is a fact.

No. This is an opinion. Tell that to all of the lovely sisters I know who wear niqab. When I was at university, it wasn’t until the niqabi sisters started attending that the school newspaper did MULTIPLE articles on Islam. The lecture I gave on hijab and Islamic feminism had an extremely large crowd due to the fact that a niqabi was on the panel and she gave a lot of dawah by answering a lot of questions.

Yes, it is the fault of THEIR ignorance and not the fault of the niqabi. I never BLAMED the niqabi nor did I ever suggest it is “fitnah” or it is her fault in any shape or way or form, aouthoubillah.

If saying I’d rather you not wear it because you’re going to get a lot of awkward stares, harassment, and the like is NOT calling the niqab a fitnah, I don’t know what is.

I don’t understand why you’re twisting it into some kind of forced imposition against the wife. I think you’re trying to find things which you WANT to find in what I said.

Touche.

Consulting your wife, discussing things maturely, rationally, listening to both sides is not “pressuring.” That’s called marriage.

Funny because no where in your post did you mention listening to your wife and her point of view on why she wants to wear niqab. You simply stated your reasons and stated that you would rather she not wear it. This is the problem with a lot of men. They think that women have to listen to their opinion because if they don’t, they’re not being mature or rational because clearly, clearly it is only the man’s opinion that is rational.

I don’t know why you’ve decided to label it as “pressuring.” If my wife was as hell bent as you are to wear niqab then who am I to stop her? All I said was that I would RATHER, key word RATHER, her stick to hejab.

You’ve never been married. You obviously don’t understand how much spouses do consider the opinion of each other. Who doesn’t want to please their spouse? You’re taking advantage of the fact that your wife will likely want to please you by asserting what you would rather she wear.

That is my personal preference, my input, my opinion which she should respect and listen to BUT I would not “pressure” her into it, never mind force.

Yes, yes. Because you are the powerful and important male in the situation and she must respect and listen to you at all costs, even when you are telling her how she should cover her body.

I would not make haram what Allah made halal, authoubillah, which you seem to be implying I suggested.

lol. Again with that haram word.

“Niqab is no more of a “fitnah” than hijab is or the thobe is or the turban is. And at the end of the day, we wear these things for the sake of Allah and we put our trust in Allah. A mans opinion on hijab or niqab fits nowhere into the equation.”

Then you should abandon everything the Prophet (s) said about hijab since he was a man.

Is it becoming clear to you how embarrassing your words are? And will you quit with the (s) thing. Goodness! That’s offensive and insulting. What would it inconvenience you to type out sallallahu alayhi wasallam?! Once again, you are not him and every man who lived after him is not that important.

The amount of sexism in ultra feminism is beyond belief. Why would you even bring gender into the picture? That’s really, really sexist. If you really wanted to be a true feminist, you would not even bring up the topic of gender because giving opinions, knowledge and input have no gender. There is no such thing as “female opinons.” or “male opinions.”

*choking on laughter* Do I need to bring out the tissues again? You seem really shaken up by this concept of women having their own opinions. Here you go.

“And I don’t care how well-intentioned a brother is or how great of a concern he has for his wife’s safety- calling someone to abandon a commandment of Allah and/or a sunnah is not right regardless of your intention.”

Could you explain why the Prophet (s) abandoned salat at the battle of khandak? Ah yes that’s right, because they would be vulnerable to attack and their safety was under threat. That’s the same with niqab.

Excuse me? Are you implying that you are in the position to tell people to abandon their niqab because of the threat of violence? Because that’s what is sounds like to me. And the last time I checked, you’re not a prophet. So how about you shut the fuck up? The prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not speak on religious matters except that he had knowledge about them- directly from Allah. So when he told them to abandon their salat, he did this with knowledge. Tell me where he ever told a woman to abandon her niqab or her hijab? He had knowledge of the future, no? He spoke about the types of people who would come in the future, no? I wonder why he didn’t have the knowledge you clearly have about the niqab. I wonder why he didn’t warn us. Here’s the phrase you are so fond of using: Why didn’t Allah make you the prophet?

I don’t know if you watch the news but woman have been so badly abused in the west for wearing not hejab, but specifically the niqab. The covering of the face. Some have even been physically assaulted! That’s what I was taking into consideration about my future wife with regards to niqab and I would prefer the hejab over niqab.

And you think that a woman who chooses to wear niqab did not take that into consideration when she put it on? Of course not. Women aren’t capable of considering the possible effects of their decisions. No it takes a man to remind her of the dangerous repercussions of her choices in clothing. Have you watched the news ever? That’s the hot topic right now. Men telling women that they shouldn’t wear this and that because it puts them in danger.

Again, to reiterate, is that the niqab’s fault? ABSOLUTELY NOT. Imam Ali (a) said that our greatest enemy is our own ignorance. They simply do not understand. BUT, that does not mean we should go out our way and “make a statement” especially when I live in an extremely unislamic area which has the highest knife crimes in the entire Europe. Why should I put that unnecessary burden on my wife?

If your wife chose to wear niqab, it would not be YOU putting a burden on her. It would be her choice which she came to rationally all by herself. The words you use “burden”. On one hand you say a woman should wear niqab if she really wants to in order to please her Lord and on the other you say that this effort is a “burden”.

It’s a shame you totally disregard intention because I’m sure this religion was based upon pure intentions and not the quantity of the deed.

Who is disregarding intention? All I’m saying is that men have no right to stealth dictate how a woman dresses(see the way you consistently frame niqab in a negative light) whether that be her niqab or her mini dress. So if it’s a man’s intention to protect women by telling her ‘don’t wear that mini dress, you might get raped’ I guess we should just not be offended by this or see anything wrong with this. Right? 

“You’re still calling someone to abandon what is good under the guise of ‘I’m just trying to prevent fitnah.’ Forget that noise. Allah > your concern for fitnah.”

All I meant by I would rather she stuck to hejab instead of niqab is that I would want her to pick good over better. Understand?

Good over better. Oh Ok. Yes. I understand. I understand that you think your opinions are the final say in how your wife chooses to dress. That’s. That’s just great.

Picking good over better is not haram, it is not a sin, it is not disobedience, it is not “not wrapping my head around trusting Allah” and it is not sinful.

Lalalalalalaal doo doo doo lalalala. Ooops. Wait. Shh. A man is speaking. I better listen.

And it is certainly not “abandoning the commandments of Allah and the sunnah” LOL wtf let’s not be extremists okay, niqab is not wajib.

Never said it was. It’s still a sunnah, no?

————(context: http://zombiejihadi.tumblr.com/post/19369095667/so-would-you-then-say-that-niqab-is-a-fitnah ) ————

here you go. Now fuck off.

sunnah-or-later:

Islām elevates the status of women, but let’s not go into extremes. The best in the sight of Allāh (jalla wa ala) are those who have the most imān, regardless of gender.

Asalamu alaikum. You’re right about that last part but I think you’re missing the point and if you are referring to my posting of the superiority of mothers over fathers by Abbas Abu Yahya (a publication available on http://abdurrahman.org/) you are definitely missing the point. The point is, in the eyes of Allah, men and women are equal except in their good deeds; however, in the eyes of mankind, women are deserving of more respect. Actually this opinion comes directly from the Quran and is further amplified through various hadith as well as the actions of the salaf, as you can read in that article. So it would be pretty outrageous for anyone to imply that men are superior to women as there is no evidence for this in the Quran or in the sunnah. Men are the protectors of women and are responsible for their welfare. This is not superiority. This is a responsibility and a great loan from Allah that they better make good on. Women have the capacity to carry life and are nurturing and compassionate by nature. This is a gift from Allah. Therefore reverence the wombs that bore you (4:1) i.e: give the upmost respect to all women (hence wombs and not just womb). If you can find me an ayat that commands unconditional respect of all men, then you can make a post about men being superior to women and I won’t bat a single eyelash. Until then, give your respect to the women and let go of your jealousy.

Question:

Here there are some mosques where the women pray under the mosque, in a basement level or above the mosque on another floor. And we women sometimes pray in these mosques, following the imaam from where we cannot see the imaam, nor the followers, and sometimes there is a large empty space in the area where the men pray. Is such praying of ours acceptable, especially when we cannot see the imaam, nor any of the followers? Sometimes when we enter the mosque we do not know which raka’ah (unit of prayer) he is in. So is it permissible in this situation to follow the takbeer by the voice only? Is it permissible for us to follow the imaam while we are on a lower or upper floor, knowing that there is sometimes space remaining in the mosque itself?

Answer:

The answer consists of two parts:

1. Prayer in such circumstances is acceptable wherever the women pray in the mosque, whether that is in an upper or lower floor. As long as they hear the takbeeraat of the imaam in the standing position, in the bowing position and in the prostration.

2. There is no reason for the women to have to perform their prayer like this, except when the area of the men is too crowded and there is no room for the women’s prayer behind them. In this case, it is allowed for them to pray on an upper or lower floor. But when this mosque, where the imaam, prays with the men behind him, has a lot of space left in it, then it is not permissible for the women to go to up to an upper floor or to go down to a lower floor where they will not see the movement of the imaam, nor the movements of the followers. There are two reasons for this:

• The Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) said: “The best lines for the men are those in the front, the worst lines are the last and the best lines for the women are at the rear and the worst are at the front.” Here he means the ground upon which the Prophet (sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) and his Companions prayed, whereas the women were not on an upper or lower floor.

• Another reason for this is that the voice could sometimes be soft and at other times completely unheard so that the prayer of the followers on the upper or lower floor who cannot see the people behind the imaam praying in vulnerable to becoming void.

So to summarise this answer, the prayer in an upper or lower level is acceptable, but it is not allowed to designate such a place for prayer when there is clearly enough space in the men’s musallaa (designated place of prayer) that the women can pray in the back behind them.

For further information on his opinion on separate prayer rooms in general please see the following post

http://zombiejihadi.tumblr.com/post/12794598146/separate-prayer-rooms-for-women

**It should be understood that separate prayer rooms should ONLY be used out of necessity and never as a means of separating the sexes out of fear that their focus on prayer will be disrupted, as this is bidd’ah. The prophet (sallallahu alayhi wasallam) did not legislate that such measures be taken. Men and women have an obligation to dress and behave appropriately, especially when in the masjid.**