Mosque
A recent story in the media focused on women being excluded from mosques during Ramadhan; this and the pandemic situation in the past year has made me think about women, mosques and adapting the way we pray together. My local mosque is in Tilford near Farnham and I have been going to it for many years, especially for Friday Prayers. After a mother on the school run commented that women didn’t go for prayers at her mosque, I felt even more fortunate to have a space in my mosque and appreciated it all the more. When the purpose built Mubarak Mosque opened in Spring 2019 I would go several days a week as well as for Friday Prayer. It is such a special feeling to be in the same room as the Imam, in this case His Holiness Mirza Masroor Ahmad.
Women and Prayers
In Islam the instruction to go to the mosque for congregational prayer is principally for men, while women have been given the choice to go to the mosque or to pray at home and this in no way lessens the blessings earned by women. In fact women don’t perform the congregational prayers at all while on their periods because Islam recognises a woman’s extreme discomfort during this time and makes allowances for it – something which is not the case in the day to day lives of female students and employees in general.
Lockdown
The first lockdown was a shock to all of us because suddenly we were unable to go to the mosque. Instead we prayed in congregation at home; this was not anything new for my family, as we have done this for many years but it was strange to hold the Friday Sermon and prayer at home. Fortunately we were able to stay connected with our community through the live broadcast of His Holiness’s Friday Sermon. This became normal over the rest of the year as our home became our mosque.
Reopening
When places of worship began to reopen, a limited number of men under the age of 60, showing no symptoms and wearing masks were allowed back for prayers. This was the first time there had been any restriction on going to the mosque, and that only because of the dangerous condition caused by the pandemic; no woman from my community has felt discriminated against in this situation as we all know that as soon as it is safe we will be back attending the mosque, praying and holding events as usual.
Covid
Covid struck my home over Christmas and New Year and because four of us became ill at different times and two didn’t get it, we found ourselves isolating in separate rooms, and it appeared as if congregational prayers would have to stop for the duration. However Islam embraces the modern world and we were able to continue congregational prayers in isolation from our different rooms around the house, connected through our mobile phones. As well as suffering physical symptoms it was a highly stressful and emotional time and the ability to be together for prayers was a great comfort.
That’s My Mosque
For a Muslim, a mosque is the principal place to worship, but unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures and God does not only live inside a mosque, He is all around us. We adapted the way we prayed according to the situation throughout the pandemic and this kept us close to God in the same way as going to a mosque would have and will do once the situation is safe enough to fully open mosques again. I am reminded of the line by Marvin Gaye, “Wherever I lay my hat, that’s my home”; well, I can empathise because “wherever I lay my prayer mat, that’s my mosque”.
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