potential changes at mecca

[Bosco 1]

I have not found any articles about this. I hope it is untrue/doesn't go through. It leaves me with a very sick feeling.

link

World Updates

August 28, 2006

Saudi clerics want to restrict women praying at Mecca

By Andrew Hammond

RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi clerics want to impose restrictions on women praying at Islam's holiest shrine in Mecca, one of the few places where male and female worshippers can intermingle.

But women activists in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of the religion where a strict version of Islam is state orthodoxy, say the idea is discriminatory and have vowed to oppose it.

At present, women can pray in the immediate vicinity of the Kaaba, a cube-shaped structure inside the mosque which pilgrims walk around seven times during the haj pilgrimage according to ancient rites established by Prophet Mohammad.

Plans by the all-male committee overseeing the holy sites would place women in a distant section of the mosque while men would still be able to pray in the key space.

"The area is very small and so crowded. So we decided to get women out of the 'sahn' (Kaaba area) to a better place where they can see the Kaaba and have more space," said Osama al-Bar, head of the Institute for Haj Research.

"Some women thought it wasn't good, but from our point of view it will be better for them ... We can sit with them and explain to them what the decision is (about)," he said. The decision is not final and could be reversed, he added.

Pushing and shoving is common in the tight space around the Kaaba where thousands of pilgrims crowd during the haj season.

The plans are likely to provoke a furore among Muslim women in countries whose Islamic traditions are more liberal than Saudi Arabia.

Ordinary Muslims say it as a basic right to be able to pray as close as possible to the Kaaba which Islam regards as the place where God's presence is most felt on Earth. It is towards the Kaaba that Muslims around the world turn when praying.

"Both men and women have the right to pray in the 'House of God'. Men have no right to take it away," said Suhaila Hammad, Saudi woman member of a body of world Muslim scholars.

"Men and women mix when they circumambulate the Kaaba, so do they want to make us do that somewhere else too?" she asked. "This is discrimination against women."

The Grand Mosque is one of the few places where men and women can pray together in Islam although technically there are separate spaces for each gender throughout the vast complex.

Religious police charged with imposing order according to Saudi Arabia's austere Wahhabi brand of Islam often harass women who decide to pray outside the prescribed areas.

Historian Hatoun al-Fassi said the move to restrict women's prayer in the mosque would be a first in Islamic history.

"Perhaps they want women to disappear from any public prayer area and when it comes to the holy mosques that's their ultimate aim," she said, adding the religious authorities recently restricted women's access at the Prophet's tomb in Medina.

[amal 4]

wow.....

[Henia 11]

Ya Allah I praz this is not true..

[UmmSqueakster 54]

Boooo!

[Henia 11]

[iceyspots 0]

[noura 0]

so wrong... I pray this does not happen.

[lostinlove228 0]

Leave it to the Saudies. If they do this, they will be responsible in front of God.

[tnh9479 1]

This does nothing to improve my perception of Saudis.

[Omid 0]

How horrifying! I was fortunate to go about six years ago Alhamdulilah - best experience of my life - I pray that Insha'Allah these guys are unable to go through with this and denying women such a blessing - Saudi men are taking this too far!!!!

Edited to add that it would have been horrible if me and the other women in my family would have had to separate from the men in my family and try to reunite after every prayer - it would be an absolute nightmare with all the people there!

Edited August 30, 2006 by Omid

[Bosco 1]

I found this commentary direct link here

The Rights of Women in the Grand Mosque

Hatoon Al-Fassi

Last Friday a number of Saudi newspapers carried a report concerning possible new prayer arrangements for women at the Grand Mosque in Makkah. The new arrangements are based on proposals made by a special panel formed according to directives from Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed. The panel was composed of representatives from the Makkah Governorate, the Presidency of the Two Holy Mosques Affairs and the King Fahd Institute for Haj Research. It proposed that the present prayer area for women at the mataf (circumambulation area) be shifted to two other locations on the ground floor on the northern side of the mosque. The panel members said that women would thus get a larger prayer space in the new area compared to the present one at the mataf. They said the new area was away from places of overcrowding, the mass movement of people and the focus of television cameras, thus ensuring the safety and privacy of women and allowing them to see the Holy Kaaba but avoid the disruption of tawaf (circumambulation).

As this proposal was made without considering the views of women, I thought it my duty to express my opinion of it with the hope that the panel’s proposal is rejected. It not only goes against the message of Islam but also wounds the feelings of Muslim women.

The main problem of this proposal is that it denies Muslim women the right to pray at the holiest place on Earth, near the Holy Kaaba, where prayers are answered and where the faithful can achieve better devotion and closeness to God. This is also one of the factors that differentiate prayer at the Grand Mosque from prayer performed in hotels overlooking it. Throughout Islamic history — from the earliest days of Islam — women have never been banned from praying inside the mataf or any other parts of the two holy mosques. There have, however, been many recent restrictions on women praying and this new proposal is simply further evidence of this.

The religion of Islam was revealed for both men and women. Both sexes are equal when it comes to performing their religious duties and in terms of rewards and punishments. The Prophet (peace be upon him) has instructed that women must not be banned from mosques. Despite these facts, we have observed that the general trend at the two holy mosques is to restrict the prayers of women and limit the areas where they can pray — as if they were a nuisance to others and unsuitable for those holy places. Some even think that the presence of women in the mataf will affect smooth television coverage of prayers inside the mosque and it would be better if the women had been confined to their homes.

We have also seen people widely circulating certain Hadiths, whose authenticity is doubtful, that it was better for women to pray at home than in other places as if the status of the two holy mosques is lower than that of a house.

Women, especially those coming from distant lands, face many problems and constraints at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah. The revered Rawda Shareef is open to women only a few hours each day while most of the time, it is for men only. Women, unlike men, are not allowed to face the grave of the Prophet and can only pass by the side of it. The same is also true for the graves of the early Caliphs Abu Bakr and Omar; women can only pass by them — not face them.

Whatever the circumstances, no Muslim can seriously entertain the idea that the presence of women in the Haram disturbs worshippers and visitors. We don’t hear the same said about the presence of men. Are the prayers of men somehow better than those of women?

Let us return to the Grand Mosque in Makkah where women are often driven away by officials — both male and female — who tell them to complete their prayers quickly and generally interfere with the women’s prayers and meditations. At present, women are limited to an enclosed area in the mataf from which, if they are sitting, they are not able to see the Kaaba. The area is small, confined and similar to a prison and is often moved depending on seasonal demands and a variety of justifications. Now the proposal is to remove this prayer area from the mataf once and for all.

My contention is that the panel should have made its proposal without denying the rights of women. In Islam, the only instruction regarding the prayers of women is that they should not pray standing in front of men and, in our times, woman pray in the last rows or on the upper floors of mosques.

In order to allow women to pray in the Grand Mosque in the proper manner, let us allocate a special area for them beginning from the Kaaba and ending at masaa (the running area between Safa and Marwa). The width of this area could be determined based on field studies conducted by the Haj Research Institute on the number of women who come to pray at the mosque. If this were done, the equality of sexes promulgated by Islam would be achieved.

It would also protect women from prejudice and ensure that no men prayed behind them. Moreover, women would be able to pray in comfort, sit closer to the Kaaba and achieve maximum devotion and closeness to God.

I request the officials of the presidency to look into this suggestion with open minds and open hearts. I am sure they will not accept the panel’s proposal which violates the spirit and message of Islam that was sent for all of humanity without any discrimination.

— Hatoon Al-Fassi is a Saudi writer and historian based in Riyadh. She can be reached at: Hatoon-alfassi@columnist.com

Also found another article here

Women’s Prayer Area in Haram Might Be Shifted

P.K. Abdul Ghafour, Arab News

JEDDAH, 26 August 2006 — The proposal to shift the prayer place of women within the circumambulation area (mataf) to two places inside the Grand Mosque, away from the Holy Kaaba, has drawn mixed reactions from both Saudis and expatriates. Some said the move was discriminatory while others said it would reduce overcrowding in mataf and facilitate tawaf (circumambulation).

Opponents of the proposal urged authorities to provide women wider areas inside the mataf instead of denying them the right to pray close to the Kaaba. According to the proposal made by a committee set up by the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques Affairs, women will be given two wider prayer areas on the ground floor, in the northern part of the mosque overlooking the Kaaba; the first between Al-Fatah and Al-Nadwa gates and the second between Al-Madinah and Al-Hudaibiya gates.

“These two places are ideal for women worshippers and provide wider space for them,” an informed source at the presidency said. “The present area provided for women in the mataf covers 630 square meters but the new places offer them double the area,” he added. Suhaila Hammad, a member of the National Society for Human Rights and the International Union of Muslim Scholars, opposed the move, saying it would deny women the right to pray inside the mataf.

“In Islam, women have equal rights like men in terms of worship and devotion to God,” she said narrating a verse from the Holy Qur’an. “When we make a decision on this matter, we should also take into consideration the feeling of the thousands of Muslim women who come here from different parts of the world for Haj and Umrah. We should not deny them the right to pray inside the mataf,” she told Arab News.

Suhaila called upon authorities to allocate at least three more areas inside the mataf for women to pray and meditate comfortably.

Hatoon Al-Fassi, a Saudi writer and historian, expressed her confidence that the presidency would not accept the proposal that goes against the message and spirit of Islam that treats both men and women equally.

“I strongly reject this proposal and request the authorities not to implement it,” she said in comments published yesterday. Such a move has never taken place in the history of Islam, she added.

Hassan Misfar of the International Fiqh Academy called upon the mosque authorities to allocate special areas for women to perform tawaf. He said he feared that Western media would use the new proposal in support of their allegation that the Kingdom’s regulations discriminate against women.

“The move is unfair,” said Safiya Ali, an expatriate dawa activist, commenting on the proposal. She feared that once the present area for women in the mataf was shifted they would not get a chance to stay and pray closer to the Holy Kaaba. Safiya wanted wider prayer areas for women in the mataf with greater privacy.

Osama Al-Bar, dean of King Fahd Institute for Haj & Umrah Research, supported the plan, saying it would solve the problem of overcrowding in the mataf area, especially during peak Haj and Umrah seasons. “We have to take into consideration that the mataf has a limited area and is very difficult to expand it further,” he said.

Many other Saudis favored the move saying it was necessary to create more space for circumambulation around the Kaaba for the growing number of pilgrims.

[Veiled Princess 1]

This is very sad. Women have always prayed behind the men in the same rooms since the time of the prophet. They have no right to deny us this right or keep us away from the masajad or seperate us from the imam while we're praying Inshallah some trustful scholars there will speak up against this and point out the bidah in it.