Offering Salah/Taraveeh at the mosque

[Tasleem]

Salaam Sisters,

Hope you can all take part and help me with this one!

After the many discussions we have had about whether women should be allowed to pray Salah at the mosque, I have grown curious to discover how many sisters actually pray their Salah or Taraveeh at their local Mosque. My mosque does not have the necessary arrangements for women, so I would like to know if this is common or not.

Please take part....it will be interesting to know the results!

Please vote - also try and leave a little post (like Surriya has done) letting us know about your experiences - but its NOT necessary! Your precious vote will be appreciated.

Jazakallah khair.

[Surriya]

walaikum assalaam,

well i've never attended my local mosque for salah or tarawee, oh actually just remembered when i was about maybe erm....8 or 9 i attended tarawee

And only ever used to got to the masjid for madrassah classes.

I think my local masjid have provisions for women, cos it was quite recently rebuilt, but nope i've never actually been.

[Ashiq e Rasool]

we have a big central mosque , which caters for women prayers , and it follows all the rules of the shari'ah law. I go quite often, and its very spiritualy rewarding, also your not rushing like at home, leaving it last min with alot of million things to do.
salams.

[Nazma]

salaam
the only time ive prayed namaaz in a mosque is when i went for umrah and in Turkey. in England ive never prayd namaaz in a mosque after i left. inshallah m.a mission blackburn will consider providing facilities for the women.

[Muslimah]

Well done Sister Tasleem an excellent idea, this is what we need here to get some lively debates and discussions going.

I have voted on your brilliant poll idea, but the actual Salat problem lies in the infrastructure. We're not all lucky as Sister Haj with her modern new Masjid with inbuilt facilities for Sisters in Leicester. Then you've got your 1922 style commitee members, with village mentality (no disrespect intended) who are probably your cha cha's, great uncle's and grandads and more in line with running your basic prayer rooms in the villages of Pindi. But these people are influencing many Mosques, and when new one's are built - they've not even considered Sisters apart from helping out with cooking and cleaning from home to take to the Masjid on certain functions. I know i'm having a good all rant here, but like Sister Haj has said it has spiritually uplifted her and her family. And just look at the circle of freinds she's now got, incl reverts....who i'd love to talk to. We need to promote this type of atmosphere, a sense of belonging within our communities, to show a united front of togetherness to this western society, who until now think we're aliens. If one Sister knows a sister whose husband/father/uncle was involved in these commitees.....then thats the opportunity we need to grab by the horns.

Appreciated we get more rewards praying at home but times have moved, and we need to get more Sisters actively involved promoting womens issues in the community if not for us for the sake of our grandchildren.

[safia]

good Idea sister,

We had this discussons before, no Iv never been to Mosque for prayers.

[star]

I go to pray at the mosque, whenever I can, we have all the facilities for women, and its very good as another sis said before, your not rushing, your following the Imam.



The atmosphere is unbelievable, as all of Allah's (S.W.T.) banda's bow down to Him together!

[jenny]

No my mosque dont cater for ladies!

[Muslimah]

Najma said:

I go to pray at the mosque, whenever I can, we have all the facilities for women, and its very good as another sis said before, your not rushing, your following the Imam.



The atmosphere is unbelievable, as all of Allah's (S.W.T.) banda's bow down to Him together!

Salams Sr Najma,

I think any Sister that hasnt been, but once sat in a congregation will be uplifted not just by the Masjid but by the whole occasion. If you have a community centre type MASJID like your in Leicester it becomes a family outing as well as a place for worship and reflection.How can Sisters be against this ?

[Ashiq e Rasool]

Muslimah said:

Salams Sr Najma,

I think any Sister that hasnt been, but once sat in a congregation will be uplifted not just by the Masjid but by the whole occasion. If you have a community centre type MASJID like your in Leicester it becomes a family outing as well as a place for worship and reflection.How can Sisters be against this ?

agree I go to the same mosque, and the athmosphere is fantastic! not only spiritually, but morrally, the way the sisters pull together.

for example we are not only a mosque , we are an Islamic centre. not only do we have a separate womens hall, but also a separate mother and toddler room, so women who want to come and pray but cant leave their kids at home, can pray in the mother and toddler room so not to disturb the other women.

Also some women of us got together to raise money for the new Hall, we held a Bazzar, it was a very big do for the community, and we raised £11000. The hall is part of an extension at the mosque which they hire out for weddings and functions, and the money regenarates
back into the running of the mosque. They have akids club every weekend, wher children go and learn about Islam, and pray Naats and comp. They also Have a ladies club which does similar things. In Ramadan, they had a special iftar just for Ladies, and for kids it was at weekends. they are also thinking of running a gym for boys, but we need to raise funds for that project.

So there is alot u as women can do for your local community, and mosque; maybe if all of you in Blackburn, want to form a local womens commitee for the Mission, then you should, and may be get together and raise funds so they can expand .


If you do want more information please dont hesitate to ask, but sister Tasleem and sister Muslimah are right, if you want to move forward this is the only way. Once you form a little commitee ( plz get permission first) maybe you can have Amma Saab on board., then you watch how the blackburn community will come in droves to help, and if you want ideas then you know were I am .

[safia]

What a good idea! Forming a ladies commitee. Shame I dont live in blackburn. But could do it in my own town.



I suppose it takes alot of time, and involves a lot of hard work though!

still a very good idea.!

[zainab]

No iv never been to my mosque, for salat, or taravi prayers.


a great idea what ashiqerasool proposes, but agree with safia I bet its time consuming, also if your a working mother like me, its bad enough getting the housework done, never mind fundraising.


But having said that, those of you out there who are at home and have got time Yes great! The rewards for doing such good deeds is Akhiraat! I bet the ladies commitee wont argue as much as the men though.

[Tasleem]

Ashiq said:

So there is alot u as women can do for your local community, and mosque; maybe if all of you in Blackburn, want to form a local womens commitee for the Mission, then you should, and may be get together and raise funds so they can expand .

If you do want more information please dont hesitate to ask, but sister Tasleem and sister Muslimah are right, if you want to move forward this is the only way. Once you form a little commitee ( plz get permission first) maybe you can have Amma Saab on board., then you watch how the blackburn community will come in droves to help, and if you want ideas then you know were I am .

Salaam all....

Mashallah, sounds like you have many privileges up there in Leicester. But it’s not all bad here in Blackburn either. We do not have a ladies committee as such and we do not have any sort of provisions for just women within the mosque/centre, but we have our own little community which the women manage and fund themselves.

Our women (i.e. women from the Blackburn Mission) are very active and hold, as well organise many milads. In fact, every Monday we tend to hold a Milad at the local women’s resource centre which is part of Blackburn College. The main speaker tends to be Amma Saab, the wife of Mufti Sahib, who delivers Bayaans on various aspects of Islam. Furthermore, we tend to begin the programme with Naats and Manqabats, which tend to be incredibly uplifting.

As well as these sessions on Monday, we tend to hold annual programmes just for women, to commemorate the Urs of famous Awliyahs such as Khwaja Gharib Nawaz, Ghaus Paak etc and of course, in celebration of the Noble Prophet (Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam)’s Salla Allahu ta'ala 'alayhi wa Sallam birthday. All of these ‘special’ programmes tend to end with langar - which is always a pleasure! In addition, similar programmes are arranged throughout the first 10 days of Muhrram, where we tend to share the story of Karbala with our fellow sisters. Again, these programmes are carried out under the guidance and support of Amma Saab, who is always very enthusiastic about holding such events!

So, this shows that the sisters in Blackburn are rather active, but much of their activities are separate from that of the men and the mosque. Jalsa’s are often held at the Mission, where women are also invited and given separate seating arrangements, but in rooms which are used as classrooms for Madrasa during the week. The main reason for this as well as the lack of provisions for women in Blackburn is that the Mohaddis-e-Azam mosque building is too small! We only have a relatively small building, where there is enough room for holding jama’at for the men, but even then, it gets rather congested on days such as Eid, Laylut-ul-Qadr and other blessed nights. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for women to be given any sort of prospect to offer Salah at the mosque not until the Mission moves to bigger premises, which is not something that is being considered at the present moment, nor will be for many years, regardless of raising funds. Yet we understand that this can only be the way forward if women in Blackburn want to offer their prayers at the mosque…..

…..But, I don’t think this is something that worries our women, as it has never been an issue. Of course, there will be some sisters who would love to pray at the mosque, but the majority are generally content with praying at home, yet getting together for Milads and Bayaans in order to build a sense of belonging.

Nevertheless, thanks for your suggestions Sister Aashiq-e-Rasool, as you have made me realise that it’s not all bad here in Blackburn after all!!! But I'm sure your suggestions will prove invaluable to other sisters who hope to create a ladies committee/community of their own.

Jazakallah Khair.

[Nudrat]

I think that its ageat idea!

We already do Milaad, and all the gathering on big nights, but to raise money for your own muslim community, would be great. It would be an incentive for the women to get out of the homes and contribute to, the local mosque, or Islamic centre, or what ever project.

You dont have to be Mosque commitee, just form your own , as a fund raising commitee. Then we as women would feel we have contributed to our muslim society.

I,ll be contacting you sister ashiqerasool for ideas.

[Peace]

i do actually go to pay at mosque! and have been going since i was about 5!!!!!!

its hounslow jamia masjid- if anyone wants to know.... and there are always provisions for women....iftaar, jummah, taraweeh, talks ect. ;D mashallah its really good.

[glow=red,2,300] something i think is true- no offence to anyone- is that many mosques dont cater for women because women themselves have no idea of how to act in the masjid - THEY YAP AND YAP!! many in my masjid- when i went for eid jamaat- didnt even cover their heads properly, and came in like they were going to some sort of fashion show!!! [/glow]

however i do believe that all masjids should have a womens area.

THERE IS SUCH A GOOD ATMOSPHERE IF EVERYTHING WORKS OUT GOOD.

[Muslimah]

Salam Sister Peace,

so very true, some women do see it as an extension to natter and have a get together that is probably the only down side, but they are not in contact with the Men, thats the main thing. The whole experience of Sisters praying together is so uplifting and the men are so lucky to have this all the time.

The should be a dress code, for women as most men wear Shalwal Kamise, Sisters should wear full Hijab as a sign of respect, that way i feel they would be less inclined to yap.

[Tasleem]

Jazakallah khair sisters for your replies.

Some very interesting issues have been raised. As we can see from our poll, we have an obvious trend – sisters have either never prayed salah at mosque or they tend to pray salah at mosque most of the time. From the responses, it is evident that most women do not attend their local mosque for salah due to there being no provisions for women, whilst those mosques (for example the central mosque in Leicester) that have the necessary arrangements for women attract a large number of sisters for praying salah at the masjid.

It is no doubt plain to see that if the arrangements were made for women in mosques, sisters like us would seize the opportunity. However, this is not something that is going to be easily integrated in our community; in fact, many will sadly agree that such a change may never happen. But we can always be optimistic and stand firm. I feel that Sister Ashiqe Rasool's idea of creating women committees is a practical step in the right direction. Then maybe if all goes well, inshallah, like Sister Ashiqe Rasool, we will too one day get the chance to offer salah at our local mosques.