Backyard
gathering of Muslims crosses 'another threshold of
conservativism'
By
APARITA
BHANDARI
The Globe and Mail
For
Raheel Raza, becoming the first Muslim woman in Canada to lead
publicly announced prayer was awe-inspiring, a "silent
revolution." And while the gathering of more than 20 men
and women yesterday in the backyard of a home in Toronto's
Cabbagetown was small, the importance of the event was not lost
on the worshippers.
"This
is a landmark event because it crosses yet another threshold of
conservatism," said Tarek Fatah, co-founder of the Muslim
Canadian Congress and whose small yard was the venue for the
Juma Prayer led by Ms. Raza. "It sets an agenda where you
can't go back from here."
Back
for Mr. Fatah and others is to the belief among many traditional
Muslims that women-led prayers are heretical and un-Islamic.
Indeed, it was fear of confrontations that caused the
traditional Friday afternoon prayer to be moved twice -- from
the Noor Cultural Centre and from a commercial building in
downtown Toronto, after a New York-based Urdu-language newspaper
published the leaked secret location -- before landing in Mr.
Fatah's yard. The prayer had also been condemned as
anti-Islamic.
In
her manner of dress, Ms. Raza did not stray from tradition: The
black shawl with red embroidery that covered her head also
covered her traditional dress of long tunic and pants,
resembling a burqa. One of the many reasons for segregation of
men and women in prayers is the potential distraction of a
woman's sexuality.
Before
addressing the gathering, Ms. Raza -- who has led many
inter-faith prayers at churches, temples and synagogues -- went
over the passages she had marked in the Koran she was clutching.
"I am in awe, and I have this responsibility. I don't want
to mispronounce anything," she said. "This is such a
significant day. Firstly, because it's actually the day of the
Prophet's birthday. And it's the Juma Prayer, a significant
weekly ritual for Muslims. And I have been asked to lead the
prayer.''
Starting
with a zikr (chanting of a verse), Ms. Raza stood to read her
khutba (sermon). The Juma Prayer went off without a hitch.
"It's a very humbling experience to be asked by my own
community to lead them," she said. "This is my
submission to God. This is not for people, it's not for the
media. It's not that I want to take over the duties of male
imams."In terms of a movement, I call it a silent
revolution. Other women will hear about it and feel empowered.
It's not being equal to men. Because men can't be equal to
women. But it's about being equal in spirituality."
Mr.
Fatah, whose MCC organized the prayer, added: "There's a
sense of solidarity with women who do feel they need to be in
leadership positions, with all respect to those who don't wish
to be. There are many ways of expressing Islam. And I think this
is the way the Prophet would have appreciated it, had he been
alive today."
Among
those at the prayer was Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street
Journal reporter-turned-author based in Morgantown, W. Va. She
was in Toronto for the fifth stop on the Muslim Women's Freedom
Tour she launched on March 1 to visit North American cities,
promulgating the message of women's rightful place alongside men
in Islam.
The
first stop had been New York. On March 18, a mixed-gender Friday
congregational prayer was led by Amina Wadud, a female Islamic
studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. The
prayer made news around the world, and the protests, as well as
support, extended from the pavement outside Synod House at the
Cathedral of St. John in New York to Malaysia and Egypt.
On
Thursday night, hours before attending the prayer led by Ms. Raza, Ms. Nomani read from her book, Standing Alone in Mecca,
for an audience at the Noor Cultural Centre. While on a
pilgrimage to Mecca, she said, she was inspired by the throngs
of men and women praying side by side. She spoke about losing
her religion and reclaiming it from the strictures of
patriarchy."
After
yesterday's prayer, Ms. Raza and Ms. Nomani hugged. The gilt of
the Arabic calligraphy on Ms. Raza's Koran glinted in the sun.
"We did it," Ms. Nomani said. "It was so simple.
Just a few people and a woman willing to lead them. But it was
so profound."
KHUTBA
Bismillah - In
the name of Allah the Compassionate, the Merciful
Salaam
Alaikum
I’m
humbled as I stand before you on this landmark occasion and I
thank you for your trust and confidence in inviting me to lead
you in prayer. Your faith today is the only criterion really
required in Islam to empower a person to lead prayer. This
is especially heart-warming for me as I’ve lead prayers in
churches, synagogues and temples and feel honoured as I stand
here with my
own community in prayer.
Surah
Nissa in the Quran begins with the following verse:
O
mankind fear your Guardian Lord who created you from a single
person, created out of it His mate and from them scattered like
seeds countless men and women – fear Allah through whom you
demand your mutual rights and be heedful of the wombs that bore
you for Allah ever watches over you.
So
we know at this moment Allah is watching over us and I believe
from my heart and soul that Allah made us equal in creation and
wanted all of us to have this equality that is denied to many
women today. What we are doing today is not re-inventing our own
tradition, rather following in the tradition, the sunnah of the
prophet. And how auspicious is this occasion today, being the
birth anniversary of our beloved Prophet who is a mercy for all humankind.
The
Quran say in surah 2: verse 151 :
Even
as we have sent among you a messenger from among you who recites
to you our communications and purifies you and teaches you the
book and the wisdom and teaches you that which you did not know.
What
many people don’t know for example is that the early mosque
was not only a place for prayer for women, but was a centre for
many other activities as well. It functioned as the
school, where people learned their religion, and the parliament,
where the community discussed new laws and affairs of the state.
It was also the courthouse, where judgments were passed and the
community center, where families met their friends and
neighbours and held their celebrations. In short, it was
the hub and centre of public life for the emerging Muslim nation
and women were active participants. It’s sad that today
women have been delegated to the back- benches of the mosques
and therefore we have to find safe
spaces like this one.
I’m
often asked where I get the strength of conviction that I’m
doing the right thing. I’m inspired by the first woman
of Islam – Hazrat Khadija – Uumul Momineen – mother of
believers – it is said that her wealth could cover the grounds
around the Kaaba – yet she donated her assets to build that
small Muslim community which desperately needed her support.
I’m motivated by Bibi Fatima who relayed the Prophets sermons
to the larger community and tradition records that when she
entered the room, the prophet stood up in respect. I draw
strength and courage from Bibi Zainab shook the court of Yazid
with her impassioned khutba after the tragedy of Karbala.
Hazrat Ayesha, a theologian and narrator of hadeeth, impresses
me. So
we see a woman building an empire through her financial status,
a woman stabilizing that empire though her piety and a woman
shaking an empire though her passion for truth and justice.
There
are stories of strong women in the Quran – stories of marry,
mother of Jesus, Bilquis, the queen Sheba and mother of
Moses to name just a few. Later a considerable number of women
of the ninth and tenth centuries are mentioned in the Arabic and
Persian sources for their extraordinary achievements in
mysticism as well as being poets, calligraphers or jurists.
As
we look into the hidden pages of history (stress on hidden) we
find many powerful women who were leaders. In political life,
there have been no less than 40 female heads of state. 15 of
them were formal sultanas or queens who had the khutba (Friday
sermon) pronounced in their names and whose insignia was minted
on coins.
And
who can forget, Rabia Al Basri, the first mystic of Islam who
cries out so poignantly to Allah:
O
my lord, if I worship you from fear of hell, burn me in hell.
f I worship you from hope of paradise, bar me from its gates.
But if I worship you for yourself alone, grant me then the
beauty of your face.
Today
I feel moved that we are gathered here to submit to Allah and
pay tribute to His loving Prophet Mohammad. When we
celebrate the Prophets life, we celebrate the women of his
family and the other women of Islam. Women who took their
direction from him – a man who is a mercy for our hearts in
allowing them to open up on truth in all aspects of life, and a
mercy for our hearts making them full of love for all people,
and a mercy for our lives as we seek to establish justice in our
relations. Prophet Mohammad taught us many things, but one
important lesson is that the more you live the greatness of God
in you, the more pious and god loving you become. You would know
the meaning of being a human being as well as how much every
human being needs Allah and how all human beings are equal
before him, with the most pious among them becoming the closest
to Allah.
SECOND
KHUTBA
My
friends the greatest jihad – inner struggle for us today, is
the jihad to speak the truth. And speaking truthfully
irrespective of the consequences means not condemning anyone or
passing judgement on anyone for Allah has clearly said in
Surah Baqarah:Let
there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from
error. Whoever rejects Shaitan and believes in Allah has grasped
the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks. And Allah
knows and hears all things.
Where
we find ourselves short is the ability to speak the truth, even
in front of an unjust ruler. Our easiest escape is to blame the
west for all the ills of the east, we have to search our own
souls and ask ourselves where in this holy book does it say that
we have to be addressed every Friday by bigots, hypocrites,
liars and give unholy allegiance to the despotic rulers we have
today in the Muslim kingdoms? Where does it say that women
can’t drive? Forget leading prayers, most women can’t
even enter a mosque except by the kitchen. Where does it say to
look down upon and humiliate people who don’t conform to our
way of thinking? We know where this comes from but as they say
in Canada, we won’t even go there. We’ll concentrate
on the fact that the Quran repeatedly reminds us that humanity
in one community.
Being
an interfaith advocate let me assure you that all is not doom
and gloom. Each religion has its own problems to deal with and
we should leave it to them to sort out, while we concentrate on
ours. If we stop following the principal of Amal Bil Maroof –
Nahi Anal Munkir – enjoin that which is good and condemn that
which is wrong – we will always give others an excuse to usurp
our lands, widow our women and orphan our children.
Today
it doesn’t matter who leads prayers. This event is just to
break the domination of a few misguided bigots who try to reduce
God to a policeman and who’s only interest in ‘profit’ is
the kind that comes out of their bank account. So each one of us
today is empowered to take with us a message of Peace, justice,
equality, tolerance, compassion and open mindedness. This is not
my message or that of our host – this is the message of the
book!
AFTER
NAMAZ DUA
Dear
God
You create us from One soul
Breathe into us of Your Spirit
And make us your Deputies on earth
You
urge us to seek you in every way
To call upon You, to remember You
And to meditate and reflect on Your signs.
You
urge us to know You, to discern,
And to understand with pure awakened hearts
That the distance between us is only a Prayer
In return You promise us everlasting bliss,
peace and eternal life
What
more can we ask for?
Yet we continue to forget your remembrance!
One
message since the beginning of time
Different Emissaries and Holy Books
One
God, one Soul, one Nation, one Faith
Faith in you, O Beloved Creator.
Allah
forgive us our mistakes and accept our humble prayers
and please
give us the insight and tolerance to make changes so that
NO
WOMAN EVER STANDS ALONE IN MECCA. AMEEN
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