Summary: Scandinavia’s first female-run mosque opened last week in Copenhagen, and more than 60 women attended the opening.
Read an excerpt of New York Times’ Women in the World piece below:
“History was made in Copenhagen last week, when Scandinavia’s first female-run mosque marked its official opening with Friday prayers led by two women imams. More than 60 women attended the mosque, set above a fast-food outlet in the city center and overseen by imams Sherin Khankan and Saliha Marie Fetteh.
“Khankan sang the ‘adhan’ (call to prayer) and made an opening speech, and Fetteh delivered the khutbah, or sermon, on the theme of ‘Women and Islam in a modern world.’ Rows of women knelt and touched their foreheads to the ground — a rare sight, given women are often encouraged to pray at home or privately, or relegated to small, uninviting women’s sections at mosques.
“The Mariam mosque opened informally in February, and has since hosted five weddings (including some inter-religious unions) and a couple of divorces, one of which was officiated after prayers on Friday.
“Their own six-page marriage charter has four key principles: polygamy is not an option; women have the right to divorce; a marriage will be annulled if psychological or physical violence is committed; and, in the event of divorce, women will have equal rights over any children. One of the mosque’s main objectives, said Khankan, was ‘to challenge patriarchal structures within religious institutions.’”
Read the full story @ New York Times Women in the World …