First female-led mosque in Denmark

A bit of history was made in Scandinavia as the first female-led mosque held its first Friday prayers in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The Friday prayers were led by the two female imams Sherin Khankan and Saliha Marie Fetteh in Mariam Mosque. Khankan recited the adhan and made an opening speech while Fetteh delivered the khutbah, or sermon, on the theme of “women and Islam in a modern world”.

Though in many mosques, women are usually not encouraged to pray with the congregation, here it was a different story. Rows of women lined up to pray. Among them were many Muslim women as well as women of different religions.

The Mariam mosque had opened informally in February, but it took six more months before preparations could be made to conduct the first Friday prayers.

One of the mosque’s main objectives, said Khankan, was “to challenge patriarchal structures within religious institutions. Islam has been male-dominated, women are still not equal in Catholicism and Judaism, and were only ordained in the Protestant faith [in Denmark] in 1948.”

The mosque also wanted to challenge “patriarchal interpretations” of the Qur’an, confront growing Islamophobia and promote Islamic progressive values. Keeping those objectives in mind, the mosque has drawn up its own six-page marriage charter with four key principles: polygamy is not an option; women have the right to divorce; a marriage will be annulled if psychological or physical violence is committed; and, in the event of divorce, women will have equal rights over any children.

Khankan, whose father is a Muslim refugee from Syria and mother a Christian, said that her parents have been very supportive of her during this time.

Sherin and Saliha hope that this proves to be a milestone and helps to combat Islamophobia.