Wikipedia

Women's mosques

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.

Xiaotaoyuan Women's Mosque in Shanghai, China.
A women-only mosque in Byblos, Lebanon.

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

Asia

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China

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See also: Islam in China

Women's mosques (Chinese: [清真]女寺; pinyin: [Qīngzhēn] nǚsì) 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 (师娘).[6]

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

In the province of Henan:

  • Beidajie Nusi, Zhengzhou[7][8]
  • Beixiajie Nusi, Zhengzhou
  • Minzhulu Nusi, Zhengzhou
  • Xishilipu Nusi, Zhengzhou
  • Hexi Nusi, Zhoukou
  • Tiedanjie Nüsi, Kaifeng, one of 16 women's mosques in that city

Elsewhere:

Maldives

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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.[10] 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.[10] 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.[10] In 2005, there was an estimated number of over 250 women's mosques spread out among the 250 inhabited islands.[10]

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

India

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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 female leadership.[11]

Other Asian countries

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Africa

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Europe

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North America

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  • The Women's Mosque of America, Los Angeles, California. The first women's mosque in the United States opened in 2015, located in a multifaith cultural centre in the Pico-Union district.[24]
  • Qal'bu Maryam Women's Mosque, Oakland, California. The first women's mosque in the San Francisco Bay area, and the second in the United States, opened March 4, 2017, is located in the City of Refuge Church in Oakland.
  • The Women's Mosque of Canada was established in Toronto in April 2019. The mosque started with space at Trinity-St. Paul's United Church.[25]

See also

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References

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  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. ^ Maria, Jaschok; Jingjun, Shu (2005). "Islam and Women". Encyclopedia of Contemporary Chinese Culture. Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 978-0-415-77716-2.
  3. ^ icampus.ucl.ac.be "Les minorités musulmanes en Chine" ("Les mosquées féminines") (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  4. ^ "Female Imams Blaze Trail Amid China's Muslims". NPR.org.
  5. ^ cnki.com.cn: Beijing lishi shang de Qingzhen nüsi (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  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 counts from algerie-dz.com: "Mosquées féminines" ("Qingzhen nusi") 18 men's mosques and 7 women's mosques.
  8. ^ [1] Google Maps
  9. ^ vgl. flickr.com: A Women's Mosque in Xian (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Fewkes, Jacqueline H. (2019). Locating Maldivian Women's Mosques in Global Discourses. Springer. ISBN 978-3-030-13585-0.
  11. ^ Fewkes, Jacqueline H. (2019). "Locating Women's Mosques: The Lakshadweep Islands". Locating Maldivian Women's Mosques in Global Discourses. Springer. pp. 116–118. ISBN 978-3-030-13585-0.
  12. ^ moritzleuenberger.net und sambuh.com: "Abu'l Faiz Khan Mosque (1720)" (accessed April 1st, 2010); cf. the article Naqshbandi.
  13. ^ deutsche-welle.de: Erste Moschee für Frauen in Kabul (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  14. ^ 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. (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  15. ^ Locating Maldivian Women’s Mosques in Global Discourses. ISBN 978-3-030-13585-0
  16. ^ "Sejarah Masjid Wanita Sungai Limau Padang Pariaman, Dulu hingga Sekarang". Padangkita.com (in Indonesian). 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2020-12-29.
  17. ^ giga-hamburg.de (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  18. ^ Nageeb, Salma. (2007). Appropriating the mosque: Women's religious groups in Khartoum. Africa Spectrum. 42. 5-27.
  19. ^ unesco.org (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  20. ^ welt.de: "Frauenmoschee für niederländische Feministen" (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  21. ^ loccum.de: "Wie geht der Dialog weiter?" (accessed April 1st, 2010) & dmk-berlin.de: "Moscheen und Gebetsräume in Berlin" (accessed April 1st, 2010)
  22. ^ "After taking a bullet, a Muslim woman created her own mosque". The Independent. July 22, 2018.
  23. ^ "BBC 100 Women 2016: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 7 October 2019. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
  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. ^ "Toronto church hosts Canada's first women's-only mosque". May 9, 2019.

Bibliography

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