Source: National Post
On August 16, 2004 the National Post reported, "When I first came to Canada as a young mother in 1976, I was surprised to see that in North America mosques -- or masjid as they care called in Arabic -- were open to women just as they were during the time of Prophet Mohammed. The Prophet stated: 'Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from attending mosques' Yet in Pakistan, from which I had come, women generally do not frequent mosques. But since that time, I have seen physical partitions going up in mosques across North America, and women have been relegated to separate quarters for congregational prayer, often far away from the main prayer halls. I became a vocal opponent against this trend: Not only does it contradict the tradition of our Prophet, but it also poses potential social and educational barriers for women that can lead to the spiritual, social and political exclusion of women from community life. In many mosques, these partitions have marginalized women from participating in policy development and decision-making.