(Washington Post) Asra Q. Nomani - Islamic teaching forbids men and women praying directly next to each other in mosques. But most American mosques have gone well beyond that by importing largely from Arab culture a system of separate accommodations that provides women with wholly unequal services for prayer and education. I had no intention of praying right next to the men, who were seated at the front of the cavernous hall. I just wanted a place in the main prayer space. As my mother, my niece, and I sat about 20 feet behind the men, one of the mosque's elders yelled at me, "I will close the mosque."
2004-01-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive