Re: RE: ProgressiveMuslims digest, Vol 1 #362 - 8 msgs

salaam Joyce, I didn't know you were local. Maybe when I get together with
sisters in the Phila area you would like to also. Anyway when the Villanova
center first was started , it was funded by Saudis. They insisted on
separation and women prayed in a separate room with glass doors and the
picnic was the one I mentioned where the men were completely separated with
food than women and they would have someone go to the women's area and take
food for the men. I hated it. However, we are Americans and little by little
the women began to push. I went one night with a friend and several of us
quietly went inside the doors to the back of the room for a lecture and
stayed to pray. That is how it began to change to one room. I was there two
years ago maybe less and was so happy to see the nice big room, go in and
just pray. Eileen
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joyce Lionarons" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2004 1:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Progressivemuslimsnetwork] RE: ProgressiveMuslims digest, Vol
1 #362 - 8 msgs


> My masjid is the Foundation for Islamic Education in Villanova, PA in
> the US.  And I have to say that I thought all mosques worked in the same
> way until I started reading this list!
>
> Joyce
>
> Chawdhury, S Minhaz wrote on 2/4/2004, 1:14 PM:
>
>  >
>  > Alhamdulillah! May Allah accept our prayers and guide us to his Grace
>  > and Light. May we all come to know true Islam and be a true Muslim.
>  > May Allah free us from hate and hypocrisy. May Allah bless us with
>  > understanding to serve his command and love his creation. And above
>  > all may Allah save us from the whisper of the evil whisperer.  May I
>  > ask sister Joyce where is this wonderful masjid is located??
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > --- On Wed 02/04, Joyce Lionarons < [email protected] > wrote:
>  >
>  > From: Joyce Lionarons [mailto: [email protected]]
>  >
>  > To: [email protected]
>  >
>  > Date: Wed, 4 Feb 2004 11:21:53 -0500
>  >
>  > Subject: Re: [Progressivemuslimsnetwork] RE: ProgressiveMuslims
>  > digest, Vol 1 #362 - 8 msgs
>  >
>  >
>  >
>  > To me the problem isn't praying at the back of the mosque or in lines
>  > <br>separate from the men.  I've got no problem with that, and would
>  > prefer <br>not to bow or prostrate in front of a bunch of men who
>  > might be staring <br>at my behind.  The problem is being segregated in
>  > separate rooms where <br>we can't hear properly unless the PA system
>  > (if it exists) is working <br>properly, being obliged to walk through
>  > alleys and garbage to enter the <br>mosque at all, and never having a
>  > woman's perspective voiced in the <br>ummah -- at least not in any
>  > public way.<br><br>I'm lucky, I suppose, in that women at my mosque
>  > pray in the same room <br>as the men most of the time (at the back,
>  > with no barrier in between <br>except space), moving to a separate
>  > room only on Fridays when the main <br>room fills up entirely with
>  > men.  But the separate room affords a view <br>of the main room
>  > through two large sets of double doors, and can be <br>entered either
>  > through the main room or through an outside door at the <br>front of
>  > the mosque, next to the main door.  We speak at monthly <br>meetings
>  > and can therefore have input into the running of the mosque. I
>  > <br>would love, however, to hear a woman lead prayers or give a
>  > khutba, and <br>I don't expect that to happen anytime soon.<br><br>I'm
>  > a relatively new Muslim and haven't travelled much since I
>  > <br>converted, so I have to say this list is giving me quite an
>  > education as <br>to how women are treated
>  > elsewhere!<br><br>Salaams,<br><br>Joyce<br><br>
>
>
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