The board approved the new space allocation for this Ramadan. We won. Thank you for pushing this forward.
July 9, 2018
Final supporters
Assalamu Alaikum,
There are less than two weeks left until Ramadan, the most blessed month of the year. For a lot of us, ISNA becomes a safe haven and our go-to place in Ramadan. As a regular ISNA attendee, myself and many others look forward to the beautiful communal spiritual atmosphere in Taraweeh and Tahajjud.
However, the experience for women is drastically different than men. When a woman arrives as early as possible at the musallah, she struggles to find a spot. The situation becomes quite tense, as many other women are struggling to secure spots themselves. Often, if a woman is not at the mosque within 45 minutes of iftar (which is quite difficult given the imbalance of gender responsibility in dinner preparation and cleanup), she will be left to pray outside the musallah. Whereas her male counterpart can walk in 20 minutes later after socializing and making wudu to get a comfortable spot in the musallah.
This petition is to request that the executive board of ISNA make a more equitable prayer space for women this month. The current main musallah division of 70% men and 30% women space is not only unfair but also unrepresentative. Women make up half of the mosque attendees if not more during both Taraweeh and Qiyam. The ISNA board currently comprises of 50% women and 50% men and we wish to see this represented in the mosque's operation. Taraweeh is not fardh for our ummah and therefore those who attend it wish to achieve the spiritual calmness and community bonding that should be available to us all equally.
We look forward to a Ramadan where half of our community can feel at ease and where one of the most frequented-spaces during this month, ISNA, can once again be regarded as a spiritual haven instead of a stressful endeavor. Please sign this petition to help raise our concerns to the highest level. May Allah SWT bring peace and tranquility to whomever reads this.
Salma Hindy
Updates
May 4, 2018
The momentum is undeniable. This is proof that so many of you share the same frustration.
Reached 100 supporters
May 4, 2018
39 Comments
To Salma, hats off to you for bringing into the forefront an issue felt by all, but discussed by none. However, to be fair in thought, the gym area for women is bigger than the men's.
The men actually have double the space if you consider the 2 huge areas adjacent to the mosque as well! Women have 3 lines in the coat-room area and 6-7 in the mosque.
Whether or not an equal amount of space is the answer, there absolutely needs to be work done in creating an equal and pleasant experience for both women and men when they’re trying to better their spiritual health by attending prayers at mosques.
I agree with this 100%.. even though I don’t pray in the mosque because of my daughter, I do want other women to benefit from this.
Completely support this. In families, men often go in alone and women are left taking care of children, all the more reason to have more space for women!
May Allah (swt) grant success. It's most interesting to note the proportion of men versus women at salaah. We understand the struggle as we in Barbados are also striving and praying and hoping for female prayer spaces in our masajid on our small island. May Allah guide us all and keep our intentions and actions pleasing to him. Ameen
I am all for it!
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The board approved the new space allocation for this Ramadan. We won. Thank you for pushing this forward.
July 9, 2018
Final supporters
Assalamu Alaikum,
There are less than two weeks left until Ramadan, the most blessed month of the year. For a lot of us, ISNA becomes a safe haven and our go-to place in Ramadan. As a regular ISNA attendee, myself and many others look forward to the beautiful communal spiritual atmosphere in Taraweeh and Tahajjud.
However, the experience for women is drastically different than men. When a woman arrives as early as possible at the musallah, she struggles to find a spot. The situation becomes quite tense, as many other women are struggling to secure spots themselves. Often, if a woman is not at the mosque within 45 minutes of iftar (which is quite difficult given the imbalance of gender responsibility in dinner preparation and cleanup), she will be left to pray outside the musallah. Whereas her male counterpart can walk in 20 minutes later after socializing and making wudu to get a comfortable spot in the musallah.
This petition is to request that the executive board of ISNA make a more equitable prayer space for women this month. The current main musallah division of 70% men and 30% women space is not only unfair but also unrepresentative. Women make up half of the mosque attendees if not more during both Taraweeh and Qiyam. The ISNA board currently comprises of 50% women and 50% men and we wish to see this represented in the mosque's operation. Taraweeh is not fardh for our ummah and therefore those who attend it wish to achieve the spiritual calmness and community bonding that should be available to us all equally.
We look forward to a Ramadan where half of our community can feel at ease and where one of the most frequented-spaces during this month, ISNA, can once again be regarded as a spiritual haven instead of a stressful endeavor. Please sign this petition to help raise our concerns to the highest level. May Allah SWT bring peace and tranquility to whomever reads this.
Salma Hindy
Updates
May 4, 2018
The momentum is undeniable. This is proof that so many of you share the same frustration.
Reached 100 supporters
May 4, 2018
39 Comments
Also, women arrive with their young children for which space becomes even more of a necessity. This is an amazing initiative. Our rasool (saw) would uphold women’s rights and our ummah have a responsibility to follow the same example.
To Salma, hats off to you for bringing into the forefront an issue felt by all, but discussed by none. However, to be fair in thought, the gym area for women is bigger than the men's.
The men actually have double the space if you consider the 2 huge areas adjacent to the mosque as well! Women have 3 lines in the coat-room area and 6-7 in the mosque.
Whether or not an equal amount of space is the answer, there absolutely needs to be work done in creating an equal and pleasant experience for both women and men when they’re trying to better their spiritual health by attending prayers at mosques.
I agree with this 100%.. even though I don’t pray in the mosque because of my daughter, I do want other women to benefit from this.
Completely support this. In families, men often go in alone and women are left taking care of children, all the more reason to have more space for women!
May Allah (swt) grant success. It's most interesting to note the proportion of men versus women at salaah. We understand the struggle as we in Barbados are also striving and praying and hoping for female prayer spaces in our masajid on our small island. May Allah guide us all and keep our intentions and actions pleasing to him. Ameen
I am all for it!
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Also, women arrive with their young children for which space becomes even more of a necessity. This is an amazing initiative. Our rasool (saw) would uphold women’s rights and our ummah have a responsibility to follow the same example.