Muslim Sistahs Are Doing It For Themselves

Right now, a little past 1 p.m. on Friday, a historical event is taking place on New York's Amsterdam Avenue. Dr. Amina Wadud, professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, is the first woman to lead a public, mixed-gender Islamic service, complete with a sermon and a prayer.

Of course, that a mere female even dares aspire to a formal religious role has a lot of muslim men up in arms. Literally, perhaps: a bomb threat forced the organizers to change the original site of the service. But threats do nothing to deter Ms. Wahud — or lead organizer Asra Nomani for that matter, who, the New York Times reminds us,

"...created a stir last year when she entered her mosque in Morgantown, W. Va., through the front entrance, reserved for men, and insisted on praying with them."

It takes enormous balls — strike that — it takes tremendous guts for these women to assert themselves like this. Women's libbers in the West, though certainly admirable in their own right, never had much more to fear than a singed eyebrow if they were a little careless setting their bras ablaze. The risks for a muslim woman in standing up to traditional and sometimes violent men in their own communities are a bit more serious, as evidenced by what's befallen the likes of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Hatin Surucu.

Although I'm a certified heathen myself and have no use for religion, my hat's off to all these women, who singlemindedly pursue their own course and who won't let the bastards keep them down.

Comments

[the crossfader]

so true . . .

[Anna]

A heathen?? No use for religion?? Rogier, we need to talk.