Integrating: Women to have space for daily prayers in mosque

Administrator of Speen Jumat is collecting donations for construction

PESHAWAR: The administrators of the city’s famous Speen Jumat (White Mosque) have started asking for donations to construct a separate portion for women to pray regularly.

The move, according to some, is a good step to discourage the patriarchal nature of spaces like mosques and hujras from where women are excluded.

Administrator of the mosque, Inayatullah, told The Express Tribune the committee that oversees all the matters of the mosque felt there should be a portion inside the structure where women could pray. “Therefore, the committee decided to ask for donations for its construction.”

When asked if the women and men would pray in the same space, Inayatullah said a separate portion would be constructed on the first floor of the building. “Women and men will offer prayers separately though they would have a single imam (prayer leader).”

He has requested the public to donate for the cause. “We need Rs.1.5 million to construct a portion for women.”

A banner hung outside the wall of Speen Jumat requests donations for the construction of a portion for women and girls. Speen Jumat is located on the bustling University Road, next to Khyber Teaching Hospital.

Although there are mosques in Peshawar where women offer prayers, the phenomenon only occurs on occasions such as Eid. There is no such mosque in the city where women can offer regular prayers like men can.

Changing times

Founder of Gandhara: Center of Peace and Cultural Education, Sana Ejaz, lauded the decision of the mosque administrator. “It is a good move to discourage the patriarchal nature of our society where women have been kicked out of the hujra and mosque.” She added women in Pakistani society have been kept aside of decision-making.

Hujra is a form of space for social gatherings in Pukhtun society in which communal issues are discussed and resolved. Similarly, mosques, apart from being a place of worship, are also used for resolving issues of the community in a better way. “I have never seen any woman being included as a member of a jirga.”

However, she also believes women are more sensitive when it comes to religious matters, especially in the rural areas. She recalled the times Swat’s Mullah Fazlullah, the current Tehrek-e-Taliban Pakistan chief, would urge women, through radio, to donate for ‘Jihad’ in Pakistan. “Women generously donated their ornaments for the so called Jihad of Fazlullah.”

Therefore, Ejaz suggested, there should be proper checks on sermons in the newly-constructed area of the mosque to ensure women are not brainwashed.

The men of the city have welcomed the move, saying it is the religious right of women to decide whether to offer prayers in the mosque or at home. A man, who owns a shop just next to Speen Jumat, believes women should have space in every mosque of the city.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2016.