Yahoo – AFP, Sören Billing, October 26, 2016
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Sherin Khankan is one of five female imams-in- training at the Mariam
Mosque in Copenhagen (AFP Photo/Betina Garcia) |
Copenhagen
(AFP) - The founder of Scandinavia's first female-led mosque is a soft-spoken
"imama" who has riled conservatives with her views on marriage but
others say her project is not progressive enough.
The Mariam
Mosque opened in March and held its first Friday prayer in August, when
Danish-born imam Saliha Marie Fetteh spoke to around 60 women -- just over half
of them Muslim -- about female scholars in Islam and women's rights.
"It
was fantastic and very moving," said Ozlem Cekic, a Turkey-born Danish
commentator and former lawmaker, who attended the sermon.
"I
believe it will strengthen Islam."
Christian
and Jewish community leaders also attended the prayer.
"Talking
about women's rights is not a Western phenomenon, it's an Islamic ideal,"
Sherin Khankan -- one of the five female imams-in-training -- told AFP in a
sparsely furnished room where the weekly prayers are held.
Arabic
calligraphy and Islamic literature adorn its white walls, but the sounds of a
bustling Copenhagen street permeate into the apartment.
An
"anonymous donor" is paying the lease of the mosque, located in a
building in an area that is one of the most expensive in Copenhagen.
The
42-year-old mother of four was born in Denmark. She describes her father, a
Syrian political refugee who married a Finnish woman, as "a feminist
icon".
Her
Christian mother would fast during Ramadan with the rest of the family, while
Muslim family members would join her in church on special occasions.
Inter-faith
dialogue has always been vital to Khankan who earlier this year publicly met
with French female rabbi Delphine Horvilleur in Copenhagen.
In 2001 she
founded "Critical Muslims", a group promoting "a democratic and
pluralistic approach to Islam."
One month
later, the 9/11 attacks in New York had a dramatic impact on how Muslims were
viewed around the world, and she found herself spending more time defending
Islam.
The role of
Islam in Denmark came under renewed focus last year after a Danish-Palestinian
gunman killed a filmmaker and a Jewish security guard in twin attacks in
Copenhagen.
Changing
power balance
Not
everyone is a fan. Khankan said she had received threats from right-wing
extremists on social media.
Public
reaction from conservative Muslims has been muted, possibly because of the fear
of wading into Denmark's high-pitched debate on Muslim immigration, which has
often dominated political debate over the past 15 years.
"When
you are changing structures in religious institutions, you are changing the
power balance. You are challenging men's monopoly," Khankan said.
"Of
course you will meet resistance, that's obvious and we were aware of that. But
I think the opposition we have met has been quite moderate," she added.
Representatives
from some of Copenhagen's major mosques did not respond to requests for
comment.
After the
opening of the Mariam Mosque, Waseem Hussein, an imam from one of the city's
biggest mosques, suggested there was no need for it.
"Should
we also make a mosque only for men? Then there would certainly be an outcry
among the Danish population," he told the Politiken daily.
"According
to the Koran, men and women are equal spiritual partners," said Khankan,
wearing a long, white skirt and a long-sleeved top but no veil, which she said
she only wears while praying.
"We
are re-reading the Koran according to our times and our society," she
added.
The mosque
is inspired by Sufism, a mystic form of Islam, and mostly caters to Sunni
Muslims, although "everyone is welcome".
Female
imams have existed in China since the 19th century, and are currently active in
a handful of countries including Germany, Belgium, Canada and the United
States, where The Women's Mosque of America opened in Los Angeles last year.
Denmark is
home to around 284,000 Muslims, according to an estimate by Brian Arly
Jacobsen, an associate professor at the University of Copenhagen specialising
in religion.
Islamic
feminism
Islamic
feminism is at the heart of the Copenhagen project, and a concrete example of
that was the mosque's marriage contract, Khankan said.
The
marriage agreement states that women have the right to divorce, polygamy is
prohibited, men and women have equal rights to their children in case of a
divorce, and that the marriage is annulled in the event of mental or physical
violence.
Five
couples have been married at the mosque, of which two were inter-faith unions.
Another three ceremonies are in the pipeline.
Khankan
admits that she had to compromise on some of her initial plans to avoid
"burning bridges" with the rest of the Muslim community.
Both men
and women are allowed to take part in the mosque's activities, but Friday
prayers have been reserved for women, as having a mixed audience would have
been more controversial.
"Burning
bridges" would only "create chaos," she said.
Syria-born
Danish lawmaker Naser Khader told Danish media that in a country like Denmark,
with its high level of gender equality, barring women from preaching to a mixed
crowd was simply not "good enough".
But Khankan
said the mosque will appeal to "a new generation of young Muslims who feel
homeless and who do not feel at home in the existing traditional mosque
communities."
Related Article:
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Yassmine el
Ksaihi poses in the prayer hall of the Polder Mosque in Amsterdam,
Netherlands, Tuesday, March 2, 2010. Uniquely in the Netherlands, men and women
pray
together in her mosque, albeit segregated, with the women praying in the back
of the prayer hall. Devotions and sermons are conducted mostly in Dutch rather
than Arabic. And non-Muslims are welcome. Across Europe Muslims are seeking a
f
ormula that lets them be an inseparable part of their country while
maintaining their
loyalty to their faith and origin. (AP Photo/ Evert
Elzinga)
|
