[ANON POST] Muslim Faith Leadership Roles for Women

[orange_fell]

I have a Somali-American woman in the Twin Cities, and I'd like to make her some sort of Muslim faith leader, but I don't know where to begin. I've read a lot of stargazer's blog, and I've Googled variations on "Muslim faith leaders women" and "female Muslim religious leaders." I got a lot of stuff for Muslim women by Muslim women, which was

Comments

[anonymous]

Thanks for asking! Some great ideas here! She could be influential online, as a vlogger or blogger, like Hind Makki. Locally, she could be a radio host, as mentioned, serve on the board of a mosque or president of a mosque, if her community's open to that, act as a youth director or women's spokesperson, lead a local study group, charity, teach (one doesn't have to be a scholar, although there are plenty of female scholars as well) full-time or only Sunday school, work for CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations) supporting the rights of Muslims, lead a Muslim women's group, convert outreach, start or lead an Islamic magazine or journal, program, school, or college, serve as marriage or general counselor at the mosque, work as a motivational speaker or author, a journalist, and of course, as an activist. There are many female Muslim activists, and they're involved in everything from community clinics like UMMA, domestic violence resource centers like Project Sakinah, inner-city services like IMAN, which provide safe spaces and

[anonymous]

Urgh, sorry for the sloppy linking. x.x

[skjam]

You might want to look at Amina Wadud http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amina_Wadud which links to this article on "women as imams" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_as_imams

Which indicates that it's rare, highly controversial (especially to more conservative Muslims), but not unknown.

Also, you may find the book I reviewed recently, Burqas, Baseball and Apple Pie by Ranya Tabari Idliby, a progressive Muslim woman, about her experiences being Muslim in America. http://www.skjam.com/2014/02/04/book-review-burqas-baseball-and-apple-pie/

[pakaboori]

I can't tell what you mean by "faith leader", but let me tell you about one of the "pastoral care workers" at my local high school. She is a middle aged mum with a background in education - I think at one point she was a teacher in the UK, and she has advanced degrees (she is generally known as Dr. First Name). She is available every week at the school for students of any faith to discuss spiritual issues and general counselling. She is an observant Muslim, wears the hijab, and always answers questions about Islam readily and in a thoughtful and diplomatic manner. She does a lot of community work with ethnic organizations and is on the boards of general community groups. She gives speeches and workshops on tolerance, living with faith, and other such topics, and also sometimes writes about women's issues and faith issues for local and national newspapers. She is a go-to person for comment on such issues for the local news. She came to mind because she's a working woman who is focussed on making a difference in her community, and who

[occasionalhope]

You probably need to look specifically at Somali forms of Islam.

For a specific female-centered Islamic movement in Somalia, look at Abay Siti - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abay_Siti . Aapprently there is a tradition of female saints in at least part of Somalia.

Here's a Unicef report on women in Somalia which might also be useful:
http://www.unicef.org/somalia/SOM_WomenInIslam.pdf