Say What?
Clearly confused
I should be the last person to refer to when it comes to religion. It is not like I don't believe in it, because in my heart, I am a proud Muslim. But it is because I never really had the opportunity to have an extensive and formal education on my faith. I was never lucky enough to go to sekolah agama, because Beijing did not have one. Athens, Ohio did have one not too. Even when I was in KL, the extra after-school hours were spent in the music room or on stage.
However, when I heard that a Muslim lady in the US decided to head the Friday prayers, it just did not feel right. Her defence was that Islam preaches gender equality, and that her choice is in line with these teachings. She also felt that there was absolutely nothing wrong for a man and a woman (who are not blood-tied) to pray next to each other.
Is she nuts?
Even with my lack of Islamic teachings, I understand that a man and woman can pray together, but in seperate areas. The reason being is that the air sembahyang can batal, and then the prayers is not sah. But to me, it is because the fine line of being horny by sitting next to a hot lady can occur, resulting with unfocused prayers. So God did us a favor by asking us to pray seperately, but together. Doesn't she know this?
And yes, Islam teaches us on gender equality. We are indeed brothers and sisters of the Islamic faith. But there are somethings we follow. Like tradition and how imam for Friday prayers are men. Not women.
I have never considered myself old-fashioned. But when it comes with this issue, bizarrely I am...
posted by Muddy at 5:26 PM
7 Comments:
random-girl :
i recently had a discussion about this with my colleague (yes, with Shi! hehehe) according to her, all-girl schools in malaysia have female imams leading an all-women friday prayers. wow, i never would have known...
aeyya :
hehehe...yeah, i can be naive sometimes. and yeah, i agree, there is an unsaid rule that a man should be the imam of friday prayers. it is completely patriacherial (if there is even such a word...) and faithfully understood.
Erm, why would there be all-women's Friday prayers in schools in Malaysia? Wow, things have changed!
On another note, having a female imam lead an all-female makmum is permissible and practiced widely; the issue is having a female imam lead a mixed makmum - which noted scholars agree, is not a practice that has been conducted nor endorsed.
But I won't go on and on abt this :) I could give you links though, if you fancy.
its like the new IT thing to talkabout lately when this issue was brought up. as for my personal opinion, i believe that what she intended to say was good..to have women equaly treated.
however, she did something that goes beyond other people's comprehension...and now she is famous. :)
I have a lot of respect for Amina Wadud but when I read about her leading the prayer congregation, I had mixed thoughts and mixed feelings about it. I think I come down on the side of orthodoxy on this. I don't feel that men and women are equal in every literal sense of the word.
idlan :
hey, thanks for dropping by! :) so scholars do agree? that's good (whoo...I thought I was on this on my own...hehehe).
ash_ruff :
true, her intention that women should be treated equally should be praised. however, in my opinion, there are somethings which should remain as special rights for certain genders.
elina :
thanks for the comment! :) and yeah, i guess when it comes to this issue, being orthodox is the way to go...
assya :
wow, this is a really good explanation. As to Sister Yasmin's argument, it is clear that there are things which are women's own, and that they should be proud of it. The women's/mother's right to have heaven by their feet is a great privilege, and men accept it without questions.
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