Every year celebrates  #VisitMyMosque which is a chance for people from all walks of life to visit a mosque.

Last week someone I know said their daughter really wants to go to a mosque. My initial reaction was excitement because they aren’t Muslim and then my second reaction was embarrassment.

How would I explain the total disparity between me saying Islam empowers women vs. how women are treated in many mosques which, whatever way you look at it screams “women are an afterthought.”

How would I explain: 

1. Why the women have to use the crappy side entrance while the men walk through the big pearly gates?

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2. How do I explain why the men’s section looks fit to be a palace while the women’s side is the storage room.

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3. Why we can’t hear the imam clearly through the speakers while cramped in the women’s section?

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4. The fact that the imam addresses the brothers but not the sisters?

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5. The leaflets advertising Islamic talks with the all-male panels?

How can I say Islam empowers us in the same sentence as “is there a woman’s section?”

I would hate for anyone to visit and think that Islam is a religion that doesn’t hold women in high esteem.

For anyone looking for an explanation here’s the short of it. A lot of issues we see in the Muslim community are due to culture rather than Islam. Don’t get them confused!

Things are starting to change, check out Harrow Central mosque who also have great provisions for kids as well as the new Maryam centre in East London!

It is a slow change but I promise you we’re a welcoming bunch of individuals, so do still have a visit, even if it is through the side entrance.

Check out this great Tumblr blog called ‘Side Entrance’ which documents photos from mosques around the world, showcasing women’s sacred spaces, in relation to men’s spaces. We show the beautiful, the adequate and the pathetic.