Today Professor Amina Wadud led a Muslim Friday prayer sermon (khutba) making her the first female in Britain to publicly lead a prayer congregation of both men and women. The khutba, arranged by and held in the Muslim Educational Centre Oxford (Meco), marks the start of a conference on Islam and Feminism which takes place this weekend at Oxford University's Wolfson College organised by Meco.
Amina Wadud, who is a visiting scholar at the Starr King School of the Ministry, Berkeley, California, sparked controversy after leading a mixed congregation held at the Anglican Church in New York in 2005. The Friday prayer had to be held at a church as mosques refused to host her. Traditionalist Muslims are of the opinion that it is only male imams that can lead mixed prayers, where women can lead prayers where there are only females.
Protesters picketed outside Meco today stating that a woman leading a prayer is 'against Islam'. One protester from Oxford said: 'We're here to uphold the traditions and the values of Islam and uphold the ways of the prophet - peace be upon him. We have no objections to women being heads of state, or organisation leaders. Women are highly respected in Islam but in Islamic law, women cannot lead prayer.'
Mokhtar Badri, vice-president of the Muslim Association of Britain (the Muslim Brotherhood's UK branch) opposes Amina Wadud leading the prayer by saying: 'It has nothing to do with position of women in society. It is not to degrade them or because we don't think they are up to it. This is something divine not human. We have to do it in the way it has been ordained by God to do it.'
However, Meco organisers believe that having a woman lead prayer is a 'leap forward' and that 'Islam is a gender-equal religion'. Taj Hargey, chairman of Meco, says that 'there is a record that the Prophet Mohammed allowed a woman to lead a mixed-gender congregation, but this precedent has been ignored'. He additionally says that whatever is not mentioned in the Koran is 'not expressly prohibited [but] is permitted.'
He sees those who oppose a female imam leading a mixed congregation in prayer are 'Literalists [who] interpret the Hadith [the sayings of Prophet Muhammad] as implying a woman should never lead a community...Though it recognises biological differences between men and women, the Koran absolutely specifies gender egalitarianism. The people opposing this are the Wahhabi, Deobandi; misogynistic segments of Islam. They don't believe in the innate equality of men and women.'
