As-salaamu alaykum.
I pray everyone had a good Eid. I wanted to comment on what y2bismil wrote i
response to Aisha's comment:
y2bismil wrote:
Why? Why not? Freedom! Sure, lets give everyone all the choices and see
what happens. Lets serve liquor in schools. They will make a choice to
drink or not. Lets have nude posters of Britney Spears and Vin Diesal
dangling from every tower. People will simply lower their gaze. Legalize
all drugs might be good too. Obviously this is an exxageration ;) But why
not? Give the people freedom! It's all about balance and where to draw
what line. Or lets not draw any lines. I think it would be interesting.
Run for president.
Daayiee's comment:
Though I can agree with your line of thinking, I think finding an equitable
balance can be very tenuous, and it will depend upon what one is balancing and
in whose interest(s) the balance is favored. As it relates to men and women
in the masjid, if their intention is to pray to their Creator, the issue of men
and women in close proximity shouldn't be an issue. If men have come to prey
on women, then it becomes an issue for men to challenge the behavior of that
individual. The resolution should not impose upon women an
unjustified/unjustifiable restriction that women are relegated to another part of the masjid or
hidden behind a screen. The will of the people verses the will of a select
few, that is where the issues of power and control really need to take place.
(When I was in school, my professor asked the question of women leading
prayers. The issue was would a woman leading prayers cause fitna due to her "sexual
allure" for the men. I, of course, offered that a women should lead prayers
and if need be to avoid probing male eyes, provide a screen for her. I was
really surprised by the responses of the women in the class, because they were
holding the line that a woman shouldn't lead prayer(s) because it would "cause"
men to act in a certain way towards women. It didn't make sense to me, and in
order to reveal that line of logic would never change the status quo, I
provided them an example where a women saw a male imam who she found sexually
attractive and got excited because she liked the shape of his buttocks that were
revealed when he kneeled in prayer. I asked who was at "fault" for the sexual
intention, the male or the female? They agreed it was the female. I replied
the same was true for men, it was the man's fault for looking at a women
sexually while leading prayer.
y2bismil continued:
I'm not concerned about fitna, but I'm not going to ignore any side of the
argument and just start leaping from extremities believing I have eveyrthing
figured out. Seriosly though, I could care less if men and women pray
together, but I'm sure some people have a problem with it. I'm not going to
ignore their views. I, unfortunately, am not divine, and I don't know where
all the boundries of the world lie. That is for us to guess, and for God to
judge. If you feel alone at the back of the mosque, I think you need to get
more women to the mosque; but I guess that mosque elite is quite powerful.
Daayiee's comment:
You're quite right that mosque elite tend to be very powerful or at least
members of the masjid are not necessarily willing to challenge the status quo
that has more to do with custom and tradition rather than a right to pray in the
masjid without being encumbered with male/female protocol. In Mecca men and
women pray side-by-side. All who are there are more than likely have their
intentions on prayer and completing the requirements for umrah or hajj. Maybe
the young Pakistani women who is a comedian, one of her jokes really tells the
story. She indicated that when she was on hajj at the Kabla, she felt someone
behind her pinched her behind. She says, she knew then that she had been
touched by the hand of Allah. (There should be laughter here. )
It's not ignoring what others think. I am far from suggesting such a
position. However, I believe when people find themselves in an atmosphere that is
different from what they are accustomed to seeing or doing, anything "different"
becomes suspect. At Al-Fatiha events, men and women share the responsibility
of leading prayers. I've had men ask me if it is okay for women to lead
prayers. I tell them yes, as historically, women have led prayers but the custom
has become that men lead prayers in public and women can lead prayers in
private spaces such as homes, private events, et cetera. I don't agree with the
custom because I have met a number of women scholars who are definitely better
informed in Islam than I am, and the rule as I understood it, the one with the
most knowledge should lead prayer. So when that standard is used, where does
the sex of the most knowledgeable come into play?
Things will change when women demand more change. Men will give way when
women say they will not accept the status quo that continues to segregate women
and keep them hidden away. Men have to help women by challenging those men who
continue to force women against their will to accept substandard treatment.
As a same gender loving person I also had to stand up to the ignorance that
prevades the traditions of many Muslims in our Ummah. Because I have stood up
to the status quo it becomes apparent that many are quite ignorant and lacking
in knowledge about the Islamic religion and its history. Second, such
mistreatment has helped me to respond in such a way where I am able to provide the
much needed services within the LGBTQ Muslim community that most imams would not
do for their brothers or sisters who are same gender loving. Without courage
things would still be the same and many Muslims would not have an opportunity
to have their religious needs meet. How can we continue to let such
mistreatment continue. As Ms. Nomani in West Virginia has proven recently, if you
don't stand for something such as fair treatment in the masjid, then you will
fall for any and everything because someone said what she does is not the proper
way. I pray Allah gives us more courage to use our brains for the greater
development of our religion rather than following the letter of the law (the sin
of the Jewish faith during the time that Islam came to the forefront) and
leaving the spriit of the law outside the masjid doors. We can surely do better.
Brother Daayiee
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