Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

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ghulam muhammed
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Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#1

Unread post by ghulam muhammed » Fri Sep 26, 2014 6:04 pm

Muslim academic gets death threats over women and gay-friendly mosque

Muslim behind Cape Town's Open Mosque project, where women will lead prayers and gays will be welcome, receives death threats

A Muslim academic is vowing to push ahead with the launch of his woman and gay-friendly mosque in South Africa, despite receiving death threats.

Taj Hargey, director of the Muslim Educational Centre of Oxford, a group of "forward thinking" Muslims, said his Open Mosque will welcome all genders, religions and sexual orientations when it opens in Wynberg, a Cape Town suburb, on Friday.

"You enter the mosque, do I ask you the question who did you sleep with last night? No. It's not my business who you slept with," said Mr Hargey, a native of Cape Town.

"Women will enter the same doors as men, women will take part in the service" said the 60-year-old. "This is the first time you'll see men and women praying together."

Mr Hargey says the Open Mosque, that has been in development for two years, is designed to counter growing Islamic radicalism in Africa.

"South Africans have become Arabised, they think they must wear the burka, must have face masks, that men must wear pyjama dresses," said Mr Hargey. "They think that is the only version of Islam."

With over 300 people expected to attend the first service, Mr Hargey, who has caused a similar uproar in Britain when he called on Muslims to ban the burka, says the response to the Open Mosque has ranged from ecstatic to apoplectic. "A 77-year-old grandmother just called me and said: 'All my life I've been waiting for this, for the first time I can go to a mosque and be warmly welcome,'" he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Hargey says he has received "a lot of death threats".

The Muslim Judicial Council, a non-profit religious advocacy group, said it was investigating the Open Mosque, telling to The Telegraph in an email it was "in the process of investigating the policy and objectives of the mosque".

Last week, the deputy president of the Muslim Judicial Council praised the Muslim community for their "vigilance".

"We see and feel the anxiousness in our community," said the council's deputy president Riad Fataar, to local radio station The Voice of the Cape.

Mr Fataar added that the Muslim Judicial Council would not consider the Open Mosque a proper place of prayer.

"We see in the newspaper clippings and the messages that this is a place of worship but we can't call it a mosque," he said. "But again we cannot make a complete statement until we have all the facts."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... osque.html

anajmi
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#2

Unread post by anajmi » Fri Sep 26, 2014 10:38 pm

"A 77-year-old grandmother just called me and said: 'All my life I've been waiting for this, for the first time I can go to a mosque and be warmly welcome,'" he said.
This is the problem with ignorant people. Women do not have to go to the mosque to pray. It is better for them if they pray at home. These people are unable to understand the basic principle of Islam. Allah says in the Quran that do not make difficult for yourselves that which Allah has made easy for you. What is easy? praying at home or going to the mosque? Unless of course the goal of going to the mosque is not prayer, but socializing!!

I do not care if a gay man comes to pray as long as he keeps his gayness at home or wherever it is that he needs to be gay. So unless you want to go to a mosque to display your gayness wearing a t-shirt which says that you are gay, I do not think any musalli cares about your sexual orientation. No one is standing at the door of any mosque asking if you are gay or not.

This guy who claims to be creating a "gay-friendly" mosque is creating a gay-club and not a mosque.

humanbeing
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#3

Unread post by humanbeing » Sun Sep 28, 2014 3:10 am

Why do men need a mosque ?, they can sit home and pray too !

by the way, there are masjids in Kuwait which has sections for women to pray. Also there is a masjid with name “Fatima Zahra mosque” in Kuwait.

WiththenameofAllah
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#4

Unread post by WiththenameofAllah » Sun Sep 28, 2014 6:38 am

I believe both male and females should be allowed to go to mosques and mosques should not be labelled as Bohra mosque, gay mosque or women mosque !!! Masjid is the house of Allah it cannot be labelled and if somebody is gay they can come and pray in a regular masjid why a special masjid?

anajmi
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#5

Unread post by anajmi » Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:10 pm

Why do men need a mosque ?, they can sit home and pray too !
Yeah they sure can. But Islam is what has been taught to us by the prophet (saw) and not by you or me. He has said it is better for women to pray at home. and it is better for the men to pray in the mosque. The key word is "better". It is not prohibited for the women to go to the mosque, but then Allah says do not make difficult for yourselves that which has been made easy for you. Nothing you or I or any other women loving, gay loving muslim academic says will change that.

I hope we have some common sense to understand what is easy and what is difficult and then weigh it against what is better. Or is that too much taxing on the brain? For example, when you are on the road, praying in a mosque might be easier than praying at home. But when you are at home and you are a woman, then praying at home is easy and is better. Two birds with one stone. Or too difficult a concept for us to understand?
by the way, there are masjids in Kuwait which has sections for women to pray. Also there is a masjid with name “Fatima Zahra mosque” in Kuwait.
Again, Islam is not what Kuwaitis do or what Saudis do.

anajmi
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#6

Unread post by anajmi » Sun Sep 28, 2014 8:16 pm

From Bro Muslim First.
Muslim First wrote:Subject: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque
anajmi wrote: Yeah they sure can. But Islam is what has been taught to us by the prophet (saw) and not by you or me. He has said it is better for women to pray at home. and it is better for the men to pray in the mosque. The key word is "better". It is not prohibited for the women to go to the mosque, but then Allah says do not make difficult for yourselves that which has been made easy for you. Nothing you or I or any other women loving, gay loving muslim academic says will change that.

I hope we have some common sense to understand what is easy and what is difficult and then weigh it against what is better. Or is that too much taxing on the brain? For example, when you are on the road, praying in a mosque might be easier than praying at home. But when you are at home and you are a woman, then praying at home is easy and is better. Two birds with one stone. Or too difficult a concept for us to understand?
Again, Islam is not what Kuwaitis do or what Saudis do.
Is a women's prayers better at home?
http://www.suhaibwebb.com/islam-studies ... h-al-dido/
Question:

Some jurists say that the increased reward for praying in the masjid does not apply to women because of the known hadith, “A woman’s prayer in her house is better than in her courtyard, and her prayer in her own room is better than her prayer in the rest of the house” (reported by Abu Dawud). Does this hadith apply to all women?

Answer

The more favorable opinion is that it does not apply to every woman. The Prophet (ﷺ) told this to Umm Humayd Al-Sa`idiyyah, and it appears to be specifically pertaining to her because other women would pray Fajr and all the other prayers with the Prophet (ﷺ).

It is also confirmed that he said: “Do not prevent the female servants of Allah from (entering) the Houses of Allah and they should go out unadorned.” He also said: “If any woman puts perfume on, she should not pray with us the last `Isha’.” And, from the hadith of `Aisha in al-Muwatta’, “The women would pray Fajr with the Prophet (ﷺ), and they would return wrapped in their garments, unknown in the darkness.”

The Prophet would order the men not to leave the masjid until the women did, and he ordered the women not to rise up (after prostrating) until the men had sat down in case the men’s privates became uncovered (many of the Prophet’s companions were poor and only wore garments that covered their navel to their knees). He also left the last rows in the masjid for the women, and said that the best of the men’s rows are the first ones, and the worst are the last; and the best of the women’s rows are the last and the worst are the first.

So, all this indicates that women also gain more reward for praying in the masjid, just like men. This is especially true when the masajid in our times have designated areas for women. During the Prophet’s (ﷺ) time the men and women were not separated in the masjid; the women simply prayed in rows behind the men.

Admin has stopped my posting. This will not appear if I post it.

humanbeing
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#7

Unread post by humanbeing » Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:40 am

anajmi wrote:Again, Islam is not what Kuwaitis do or what Saudis do.
Seems like you take every query as vindictive and answer with arrogance. Anyhow your response was good. As you mentioned, It is better for women to pray at home and it is not outright prohibited for women to pray in masjid.

My comment pertaining to Kuwait having space for women in masjid as well as a masjid with woman’s name wanted to express that there is no such prohibition which is further support by MF and yourself.

Your explanation was indeed common sense, which was not required ( personally for me). My concern was with those fanatics who absolutely block and prohibit women from stepping out of the house in guise of religion be it quran or hadith.

Who goes to masjid for socializing or piety, leave that on allah to decide. To each its own !

anajmi
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#8

Unread post by anajmi » Mon Sep 29, 2014 10:21 am

My concern was with those fanatics who absolutely block and prohibit women from stepping out of the house in guise of religion be it quran or hadith.
A bigger concern should be people who are unable to distinguish between Islam and fanaticism, because these people end up making everyone responsible for the misdeeds of a few.

JC
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#9

Unread post by JC » Mon Sep 29, 2014 11:06 am

I tend to agree with Bro Anajmi.

Mosques should not be labeled, mosques are mosques and EVERY MUSLIM, man or woman should be allowed to pray there; and that is what Islam asks us to, Islam then prescribes what is 'better' ........... so it is up to us to accept that or not as Islam is not making it mandatory, so women want to go and pray in mosque, fine, men want to pray at home, good too!

Secondly I am gay but I go to any mosque and pray with others. Nobody asks me about anything, my job, my sect, my nationality, my sexual orientation, no, nothing .... and nobody should. If a person enters a mosque to pray, it is implied he (or she) is Muslim and has all the rights to pray there, no more, no less. The problem would arise if tomorrow someone tells me I cannot pray in mosque because I am gay, then it would also arise if someone says No because I am black, or Pakistani or work as a laborer.

There should not be anything as 'gay-friendly' .......... because we do not need that, we are part and parcel of a society like any other person or individual.

anajmi
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Re: Death Threats Over Women & Gay-Friendly Mosque

#10

Unread post by anajmi » Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:34 pm

I agree. A gay-friendly mosque would actually be counter-productive. Fanatics will now know where the gays assemble and they will become easier targets. And gays looking to exploit other gays now have a venue at which they can go because they know exactly where the gays are going to assemble five times a day. The more you think about it, the more and more foolish this idea appears to be!!