Bbc article: Women shut out of mosques during Ramadan

[jay55]

Coronavirus: Why some mosques are closed to women during Ramadan www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-56937289

A lot of mosques that usually accommodate women are not at the moment, presumably as social distancing means there is less space. And of course men are the priority.

You're right, it's not enough. But it would be a start. A statement.

Restaurants etc have to have food safety visit. Maybe this kind of thing could be expanded to all premises that the public access - is there disabled access, do men and women have access to equal facilities (exceptions allowed as equality act re refuges etc, that kind of thing. I believe there was an anti terror programme everyone had to use to prevent extremism in religious settings so it could be tagged on to that.

Personally I'd like to add in are homosexuals treated as second class citizens in Christian churches too. But I'm getting off point, which is that there could be a requirement to have equality and councils could be forced to do random inspections. In most places there wouldn't be more than a could of mosques in an area so it wouldn't take a huge amount of administration (and they could use the extra time to check out other religions).

@musingloud more that men have the obligation to go whether they want to, women do not. I'm not a Muslim, so I can't say.

I absolutely agree that the result is women being excluded, just that the intention may be different. Men are also excluded from women's areas. Women would be socialising and gathering elsewhere, around practices men are excluded from.

It's no longer fit for purpose, as women are expected to have as full a public life as men. It may not have arisen in a deliberate attempt to exclude women from places men do business, rather an assumption that women would have no need, no obligation, to be there.

I've been to Christian conferences where we all divide up into different demographics- the under 30s have different worship sessions from the over 30s, there's singles events and couples events, parenting workshops, men's sessions and women's sessions. It's not to exclude people, it's to offer something tailored to their needs.

Binglebong, what makes you think homosexuals would be ill treated in Christian churches? My own previous minister was a lesbian! She was double qualified as a lawyer and priest, and was instrumental on the national committee that approved gay ministry.
We have gay male members of our congregation, who are made as welcome as everyone else.
And we have had women ministers for over 50 years, including at least two as national Moderator. Christianity is in no way comparable to Islam for misogyny and homophobia.

I can see loads of rubbish and ignorance here of what Islam (as in qur’an and hadiths) actually say.

1. The correct Islamic view is that women should not be prevented from going to the mosques. If they have no space then effectively the mosque management is not following the correct view.
2. Qur’an specifically says believing men and women must lower their gaze and hence not stare. Segregated areas are just there to help that, much easier to function when the opposite sex is out of the way. I can personally focus much better when men are not in the same space. I use women only gym for this exact reason and I can see a lot of non-Muslim women using the same gym too, makes them more comfortable.
3. It is not mandatory for women to pray in congregation, but it’s mandatory for men. Hence the prioritisation of men’s spaces during covid. However there should be women’s prayer area too during normal times.

@bluebluezoo

Yep I was suprised to find out that 1/4 of mosques in the UK have no provision for women at all.

Yet Islam is saying it’s an equal religion, womens choice etc and all the “bad” bits are cultural, not religion.

It is cultural though. In some parts of the world, the women's section is a social space, usually for older women. Some interesting stats here: www.islamic-relief.org.uk/choose-to-challenge-making-space-for-muslim-women/

Open My Mosque and Side Entrance are two long-running campaigns to provide better access for Muslim women.

I do find it slightly ironic this is being worried about given the many other issues affecting women of certain faiths.

Have enjoyed the BBC wrangling the issue today

Babdoc no offence was meant I assure you. Some Christian churches are anti gay (I remember a friend telling me she was ostracised and effectively kicked out when she came out). It's not the majority, as I hope it isn't the majority of mosques that are anti women. But with both there shouldn't any, it seems down to the culture of the leaders and congregation rather than the teaching of the religion itself and some kind of ruling and random inspection might help.

I'll be honest, I picked the Christian homosexuals one as an example I could think of to show that this is not specific to Islam but that all religions have unreasonable outliers who should be prevented from harming others.