Islam Moving Towards Equality?
Wouldn't it be nice if this catches on? A female professor led a mixed gender Islamic prayer service on Friday in Virginia, a state not known for its equality. A rather interesting event.
NEW YORK (AP) -- A female professor led an Islamic prayer service Friday with men in the congregation despite sharp criticism from Muslim religious leaders in the Middle East who complained that it violated centuries of tradition.
Amina Wadud, a professor of Islamic studies at Virginia Commonwealth University, led the service at Synod House at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, an Episcopal church in Manhattan.
Some Islamic scholars have said they were aware of a few other mixed-gender prayer meetings led by women, mostly in the West, but they are rare.