NINETNINE NETWORK: Who's Amina Wadud

[InterFaith]

She's now be the 1st ever Muslim woman who leads Friday prayer. Yes, Friday prayer or solat Jumaat mate - mixup man and woman side by side. Ermm, like Catholic asking "woman Pope" for Sunday blessing in Vatican. So awful and unacceptable right? Or you are liberal enough to accept such a move. Think carefully what will be next.

May God will bless you and ur suporter, Prof... To all my muslim brothers and sisters, what's going wrong HERE actually.

From EarthTimes.org

Woman professor leads Muslim prayer, irks Islamic leaders
By Darya Zarin

Gender inequality in Islam took another beating when a female professor, Amina Wadud, led a Muslim prayer service attended by 80 to 100 men and women in New York. The move has invited flak from Islamic leaders in the Middle East, who feel that this is a violation of long-held traditions.

Wadud, who teaches Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University in Vancouver, held the prayer service in Manhattan at Synod House at the Cathedral of St John the Divine. "The issue of gender equality is a very important one in Islam, and Muslims have unfortunately used highly restrictive interpretations of history to move backward," Wadud said, adding that the prayer service was 'symbolic of the possibilities within Islam'.

She asserted her intentions to 'remove the artificial and sometimes extremely inconvenient restrictions on the entry and participation of women' in Islam. Sharply criticized by religious leaders from Muslim countries, Wadud also received malicious calls and emails, said Saleema Abdul-Ghafur of Progressive Muslim Union, the main organizer of the event.

According to Asra Nomani, another activist supporting Wadud, the event aimed at putting the spotlight on gender inequality in not only day-to-day Muslim life but also its spiritual aspect. Nomani said that she and Wadud were standing up for their rights as women in Islam. "We will no longer accept the back door or the shadows. At the end of the day, we'll be leaders in the Muslim world," she said.

Meanwhile, around 15 protestors gathered outside the church to oppose the event. One man also tried to enter the hall, but was not allowed in by policemen who were guarding the congregation against any untoward incidents.

Wadud, who is an African American, is a convert to Islam. She is also the author of Quran and Woman: Rereading the Sacred Text from a Woman's Perspective.

According to Wadud, the Holy Quran contains no objection to women prayer leaders. To substantiate her claim, she cited the incident mentioned in the Holy Quran about Prophet Muhammad who allowed Umme Warqa to head a prayer of followers of both genders at her residence.

However, Muslim illuminati Hafiz Abdur Rehman Madani has contented that Muslim women are prohibited not only from leading prayers but also from standing among males in a mosque.

From Islam Online

Woman-led Friday Prayer Sparks Furor in US

NEW YORK, March 19, 2005 - An American woman led on Friday, March 18, a mixed congregation of men and women in New York in the Friday prayer against a backdrop of protests and calls of blasphemy from American Muslims.

More than a hundred men and women knelt in adjacent rows, with no curtain to divide them as Amina Wadud, an associate professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led the prayer.

The Adhan (call to prayer) was raised by another woman, Suehyla El-Attar, who did not wear hijab, The New York Times reported.

The prayer was held at the heavily-guarded Synod House at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan, after several mosques refused to host it.

Wadud conducted the service primarily in English with verses of the Noble Qur'an read in Arabic.

Her controversial sermon centered on the idea that men and women should treat each other as equals.

"I don't want to change Muslim mosques. I want to encourage the hearts of Muslims to believe that they are equal," CNN quoted Wadud as telling a crowded news conference before the prayer.

She said she wished to remove "artificial and inconvenient restrictions" imposed on Muslim women.

Furor

For the most part, New York City Muslims have been unreceptive to the event, but many proposed outside, said The Times.

"That woman does not represent Islam at all. This is blasphemy, and the penalty for blasphemy is death and that is what this woman deserves," the American daily quoted a protester named Nussrah as saying.

Another protester said that Wadud was trying to change the Noble Qur'an.

"If Islam goes with what you feel, then it is not a religion, it is an option. We are against her because she is trying to offend 1.4 billion Muslims and as a Muslim it is our duty to forbid what we see as evil," the protester, who refused to be named, told Voice of America radio.

"I am against what she is saying because it has never been allowed, since the 14th century until now all the religious scholars never allowed a woman to be an imam," in Friday prayer, a woman protester added.

The protesters further carried placards with one of them reading: "Mixed-Gender Prayers Today, Hellfire Tomorrow."