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Aprender
10-10-2012, 05:29 PM
BEIJING — Could an old religious tradition from China help solve one of the world’s most pressing problems — violence committed in the name of Islam?

The irony of an officially atheist country possibly offering a way out of an international religious problem is intense. Yet that is what some Islamic scholars in China and elsewhere hope may happen as they point to a quietly liberal tradition among China’s 10 million Hui Muslims, where female imams and mosques for women are flourishing in a globally unique phenomenon.


Female imams and women’s mosques are important because their endurance in China offers a vision of an older form of Islam that has inclusiveness and tolerance, not marginalization and extremism, at its core, the scholars say.


Exact numbers are not available, but Shui Jingjun, a leading scholar of women in Hui Islam (the Hui are scattered across China and are distinct from the Uighur Muslims of the far western region of Xinjiang) estimates there are hundreds of female imams leading mosques around the country, educating boys and girls, and organizing social services in their communities.


Female imams and women’s mosques are not “a new thing here. It’s just a cultural tradition that was never interfered with,” Ms. Shui, an author and researcher at the Henan Academy of Social Sciences in Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, said in an interview.


That is what makes it so important, said Khaled Abou El Fadl, a prominent Islamic legal scholar.


“The Chinese tradition of women’s mosques is rooted in Islamic history. It is not novel, a corruption or innovation or some type of heretical practice,” Mr. Abou El Fadl, a professor of Islamic law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a recorded interview.

Read the rest of the article here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/wo...er10.html?_r=0

I think this is very interesting so far how they've been able to preserve a culture of women scholars in Islam over there. It's something that is gravely lacking in Islam in modern times but it's strange to me how there has to be "women mosques" and "men mosques". It seems like there is a "women's Islam" and a "Mans Islam". Was this common in the time of the prophet (peace be upon him)? To have two different mosques for the genders? To silence the opinions of female scholars?

Sometimes I question the rulings that I read about women being able to contribute to the community and even in Islamic education. I read a fatwa online where the sheik when so far as to say that "men are better than women". It actually upset me because in the Quran translations that I've read it's never said anything like that and in some of the hadith I've come across I didn't find that either. So I'm wondering where these conclusions are coming from. Is it cultural?
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Hulk
10-10-2012, 06:48 PM
I've never heard of having "separate mosques" for men and women, we can pray in congregation(Salaah Jamaat) together just that the men will be praying in front with the men while the women will be praying in the back. I did a little searching for women-only mosques and according to wikipedia it's only happening in China(for a few hundred years).

I don't really know much female scholars but I do know plenty of women who teach Quran recitation, religious studies. Don't forget that after the Prophet's (pbuh) passing many turned to Sayyida Aisha (ra) for advice.

I know a lot of people take the "men are better than women" thing because there is a hadith that mentions women being "deficient" in "intellect" or something like that and some people even try to rationalise it by saying scientifically women have smaller brains. But keep in mind that we are not scholars. The hadith isn't there for anyone to simply interpret, especially for those of us who don't speak arabic. And even if someone speaks arabic it doesn't make them qualified. From what I remember the hadith is referring to the woman's fitra of being merciful/emotional which makes them better mothers than men. The same attribute is what might affect a "fair" judgement which is why the hadith mentions that one male witness is equal to 2 female witness.(I don't remember where I heard the explanation I think it was either from Zakir Naik or Hamza Yusuf) I am however merely operating by memory so please forgive any mistakes I may have made.

This sort of issue don't really come up in the religious classes I attend (though there are many sisters) as it's really a given to us that we do have different roles but it in no way means that one is superior over the other.

Of course, men have weaknesses too :)
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IbnAbdulHakim
10-10-2012, 06:59 PM
Am I the only on who strongly believes that the best place for a muslimah is the home? The best place in terms of spiritual progress.

I tell my sister all the time lol, I would love to stay at home and avoid the fitnah in this world.
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Hulk
10-10-2012, 07:08 PM
Alhamdulillah I managed to find a hadith that one of my teachers was talking about. You know it's not easy to find a hadith based on merely someone talking about it lol. It's basically about how "easy" it is for women to go to paradise. Honestly, when my teacher talked about it I almost wished I was a woman (but alhamdulillah I am a man) .

So do take note of this dear sisters :statisfie
The Messenger (sal Allahu alaihi wa sallam) said, “If a woman observes her five daily prayers, fasts during the month of Ramadhan, guards her chastity and obeys her husband, she may enter Paradise through any of the gates she wishes.”
[Ibn Hibban ~ Hadith Sahih]
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Aprender
10-10-2012, 07:17 PM
format_quote Originally Posted by IbnAbdulHakim
Am I the only on who strongly believes that the best place for a muslimah is the home? The best place in terms of spiritual progress.
Not exactly for reverts like me living in a non-Muslim household. Being here isn't so great for my spiritual progress. This last Ramadan was incredibly difficult for me to complete due to the tension in the household. My step father said that it "wasn't fair to the family" what I was doing. I do what I can to seek out classes to learn more about Islam, be around other sisters so I don't end up losing my religion. Unfortunately where I live the masjid is very far away so I try to rely on books and online lectures to learn a little about Islam but even then it's suffocating.

I like to get out. Smell the fresh air, shoot some hoops, interact with other humans every now and then. And even then I do care a lot about my Ummah, the Muslim community as a whole and I would like to help make it better with what little skills I have. Me staying at home all day doesn't help anything but increase my chances of going a little crazy. Especially for other reverts like me who don't really have a place where we really "fit in" just yet and holidays like Christmas make everything all weird at home. And when Eid comes around there is an even greater sense of loneliness.

It's different I guess when you have a nice family structure at home that understands Islam. I don't have that yet, nor do I have a family that even tries to understand Islam, so I try to seek it outside the home and here online whenever I can.
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IbnAbdulHakim
10-10-2012, 07:21 PM
you know whats interesting Hulk is that after you say its easy lol we read this:

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.a...7547&CATE=1404

the shaytan makes it hard for us all eh.


It's different I guess when you have a nice family structure at home that understands Islam. I don't have that yet, nor do I have a family that even tries to understand Islam, so I try to seek it outside the home and here online whenever I can.
Your right, I do.

May Allah give you over and above what I have now. I hope you find a time in your life where the most comfortable and spiritually benevolent place to you is your home.

It saddens me to hear your situation. I'm sorry
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Hulk
10-10-2012, 07:44 PM
@Aprender

May Allah reward you for your struggle sis.. I have a friend who's a convert and he experienced similar things as well but it might be a little hard in your situation as at least he had fellow muslims he was in contact with in real life. I have friends who say converts have it good because they have their slate wiped clean and that they get to try "all kinds of things" before converting. I always try to remind them how lucky they actually are to be born into a muslim household..

Anyway I hope you will continue to remain patient and inshaAllah try to improve relationship with your family. I remember there's one other sister here on the board who is a 13 year old convert(mashaAllah).. I was so worried about her but alhamdulillah sometimes I still see her post here talking about matters of the deen like Fiqh and it really warms my heart knowing she's still continuing to learn. May Allah keep us all on the straight path...

format_quote Originally Posted by IbnAbdulHakim
you know whats interesting Hulk is that after you say its easy lol we read this:

http://qa.sunnipath.com/issue_view.a...7547&CATE=1404

the shaytan makes it hard for us all eh.
Yes my teacher was actually mentioning that hadith in relation to that hadith. :)
I think sometimes people forget that Hell exists outside of our time, so some think that there are women in hell right now. In actuality I think the hadith should be taken as a warning. In one of Sheikh Hamza's talk I think he mentioned some scholars holding the opinion that it was a reminder to be grateful of righteous husbands.
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