Women's mosques explained

Women's mosques exist around the world, with a particularly rich tradition in China. As Islam has principles of segregating the sexes at times, many places of worship provide a dedicated prayer space for women within the main building, but in a few countries, separate buildings were constructed. In some cases, women were allowed to become imams.

In the 21st century, many countries have seen women-led or women-only mosques created, as part of liberal movements within Islam.

Asia

China

See also: Islam in China.

Women's mosques have existed in China for several hundred years.[1] [2] They can be found in the provinces of Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi and Hebei.[3]

In China, separate women-only mosques were built by the Muslim communities. At the end of the Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty, Hui women had begun to form their own mosques. The oldest surviving women's mosque in China, is Wangjia Hutong Women's Mosque of Kaifeng, which dates to 1820.[4]

For religious reasons, Hui communities had started to cultivate more theological learning among the women. As a result, a portion of the female Muslims who had experienced a religious education, gradually incorporated Islamic observances into their daily religious activities, and this produced the establishment of women's mosques.[5]

By the 20th century, there were separate places of worship as women-only mosques. They are a special form of the sacred building, either as a separate institution or mosque attached to an existing larger mosque. Their managers are women, wives of the imam of a larger mosque. The commonly used title for it is Shiniang (Chinese: 师娘).[6]

Female Islamic clerics are referred to as nü ahong (Chinese: 女阿訇) in Chinese.

In the province of Henan:

Elsewhere:

Maldives

In the Maldives, there are women's mosques located in many islands and atolls, a tradition which possibly dates back to earlier times due to the influence women have historically wielded in Maldivian society.It was a Maldivian practice to maintain such mosques, known as nisha miskii, which were separate buildings run by female equivalents of mudimu (male mosque caretakers) known as mudahim. The women's mosques are not on every single island, and an example of this is the capital island, where mosques have a separate area for women within larger mosques. In 2005, there was an estimated number of over 250 women's mosques spread out among the 250 inhabited islands.

In late 2009 and 2010, all of the Maldives’ nisha miskii seemed to have closed. The Ministry of Islamic Affairs of the Maldives closed the mosques claiming that they were expensive to maintain and rarely used. As of 2018, available accounts indicate that women's mosques no longer exist in the Maldives.[10]

India

In the union territory of Lakshadweep, oral traditions suggest the establishment of women's mosques in the area. According to the few mentions of women's mosques in the region, there were reportedly small private buildings that were attended by women with a female leadership.[11]

Other Asian countries

Africa

Europe

North America

See also

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Maria Jaschok: "Religious Women in a Chinese City: Ordering the past, recovering the future - Notes from fieldwork in the central Chinese province of Henan". QEH Working Paper Series - QEHWPS125, S.8
  2. Book: Maria . Jaschok . Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture . Jingjun . Shu . 2005 . . 978-0-415-77716-2 . 284 . en . Islam and Women.
  3. http://www.icampus.ucl.ac.be/claroline/backends/download.php?url=L1RyYXZhdXhfMjAwNS0yMDA2L011c3VsbWFucy5kb2M%3D&cidReset=true&cidReq=ASI2302 icampus.ucl.ac.be "Les minorités musulmanes en Chine" ("Les mosquées féminines")
  4. Web site: Female Imams Blaze Trail Amid China's Muslims. NPR.org.
  5. http://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTotal-GHJS200706053.htm cnki.com.cn: Beijing lishi shang de Qingzhen nüsi
  6. cf. "Weibliche Imame", source: Jaschok, Maria and Jingju Shui, p. 287-292, German translation from English: C. Schneider (accessed April 1st, 2010) and Ingrid Mattson: "Can a Woman be an Imam?" - macdonald.hartsem.edu (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  7. [Zhengzhou]
  8. http://ditu.google.com/maps?q=mosque&hl=zh-CN&sll=32.990236,114.036026&sspn=0.177963,0.220757&brcurrent=3,0x35d47a0e26904613:0xa566d300158dfe70,0,0x35d387771efd5263:0x7a5ce729326675b6%3B5,0,0&hq=mosque&t=m&z=12&iwloc=A
  9. vgl. flickr.com: A Women's Mosque in Xian (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  10. Book: Fewkes, Jacqueline H.. Locating Maldivian Women's Mosques in Global Discourses. Springer. 2019. 978-3-030-13585-0.
  11. Book: Fewkes, Jacqueline H.. Locating Maldivian Women's Mosques in Global Discourses. Springer. 2019. 978-3-030-13585-0. 116–118. en. Locating Women's Mosques: The Lakshadweep Islands.
  12. http://www.moritzleuenberger.net/diverses/vip-nicht-vip-ramadan.html moritzleuenberger.net
  13. http://www.deutsche-welle.de/dw/article/9799/0,,1890595,00.html deutsche-welle.de: Erste Moschee für Frauen in Kabul
  14. http://haumaldives.wordpress.com/2009/10/29/aid-to-women%E2%80%99s-mosques-terminated-and-women-imam%E2%80%99s-left-jobless-as-if-the-deprivations-the-mdp-government-of-mohamed-nasheed-cause-is-not-enough/ haumaldives.wordpress.com: Aid to women’s mosques terminated and women Imam’s left jobless, as if the deprivations the MDP government of Mohamed Nasheed cause is not enough.
  15. Locating Maldivian Women’s Mosques in Global Discourses.
  16. Web site: 2020-12-29. Sejarah Masjid Wanita Sungai Limau Padang Pariaman, Dulu hingga Sekarang. Padangkita.com. id-ID. 2020-12-29.
  17. http://www.giga-hamburg.de/index.php?file=afs_0701.html&folder=publikationen/archiv/af_spectrum giga-hamburg.de
  18. Nageeb, Salma. (2007). Appropriating the mosque: Women's religious groups in Khartoum. Africa Spectrum. 42. 5-27.
  19. http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/doc/src/00161-EN.pdf unesco.org
  20. https://www.welt.de/print-welt/article559410/Frauenmoschee_fuer_niederlaendische_Feministen.html welt.de: "Frauenmoschee für niederländische Feministen"
  21. http://www.loccum.de/material/kirche/jonker.pdf loccum.de: "Wie geht der Dialog weiter?"
  22. Web site: After taking a bullet, a Muslim woman created her own mosque. July 22, 2018. The Independent.
  23. Web site: BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list? . BBC News . 3 February 2020 . 7 October 2019.
  24. Tamara Audi, "Feeling Unwelcome at Mosques, 2 Women Start Their Own in L.A.: New Entity Believed to Be the First of Its Kind in the U.S." The Wall Street Journal, January 30, 2015.
  25. Web site: Toronto church hosts Canada's first women's-only mosque. May 9, 2019.

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