Denmark opens its first female-led mosque

Sherin Khankan led four women imams team in Denmark to establish Scandinavia’s first female-led mosque, breaking religious stereotypes in Copenhagen. The group wants it to be called the “feminist project.”

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Sherin herself has a diverse background as her father is a Syrian Muslim and mother is a Finnish Christian. She is now fighting to diversify countrywomen’s view about Islamic rights for women. The Guardian reported she doesn’t comprehend with the ideas of women feeling like strangers in their own city. She wanted to break the culture of ‘only-men' mosques existing in their town. In arguing that she then continued, “There was an Islamic tradition allowing women to be imams and that most of the criticism was based on ignorance”, reported by The Guardian.

Image Credit: Straitstimes

The Mariam mosque’s door is open for both men and women except for Friday when all imams and prayers would be female.

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To broaden Islam’s appeal, to show the reality that every individual has a right to pray to their Gods and to create a place for upgraded, contemporary religion practices, she said, “Many imams in this country belong to the traditional school which does not account for the culture we live in”, reported by  NY Times. The project will box out many traditional as well as new minds to the world of faith and young culture. She hopes to bridge the gap between these two pillars.

The city’s Muslim communities have been supportive so far, reports say.

NY Times / The Guardian