i'd say it's unbelievable, but...

muslim wakeup! and the muslim women's freedom tour are sponsoring female-lead public friday prayer ("jum3ah prayers") in NYC.

this is extremely controversial. it's not that women aren't deemed equal to men religiously; the famous jurist tabari (d. 923), founder of one of the four judicial schools of islam, observed that the prophet muhammad (peace) had instructed a woman to lead prayers, thus dispelling any misapprehensions unruly penis-wielders might have on the subject.

however, social patterns don't change just because they are supposed to, and this friday's event will be the first woman-led jum3ah prayers recorded since the time of the prophet (peace).

of course, this has lead to the inevitable. just read:

Those who will gather for the prayer later this week will do so as a result of deeply held convictions that are rooted in our faith. Our understanding of the Qur’an and of the Prophetic tradition has led us to the same conclusions about the admissibility of female-led prayer that led the great Muslim jurist, historian, and Qur’anic scholar Al-Tabari to hold the same view 1100 years ago.

We love and care deeply for our community, and we understand that good people will arrive at varying conclusions regarding the Islamic basis for female-led prayer. This is not an attempt to “change” Islam, nor to condemn others who interpret our religion differently than we do.

If Muslims are to rise to the many challenges that face us, we must create safe spaces for dialogue among ourselves—silencing opposing views accomplishes nothing except the growth of resentment and driving more people away who feel marginalized. As a community, we need to acknowledge the richness of our faith and the multiplicities of interpretation that have existed within our tradition.

Unfortunately, instead of engaging in thoughtful discussion, a small minority within our community continues to favor intimidation and threats over conversing with, to use the words of our Qur’an, “that which is more beautiful,” billati hiya ahsan (Qur’an 16:125).

As a result, due to security concerns, the owner of the space that had originally offered to host the Jum’ah can no longer do so.

We are committed to holding a congregational prayer that ensures the safety of all the women, men, and children in attendance. For this reason, after consulting with concerned members of our community as well as law enforcement authorities, we have decided not to publicly announce the new location for the prayer. Those who are interested in attending must fill out the form below, and we will contact them directly with more information.

that's right, folks: they are holding the location secret as a presidential visit because of serious death threats. death threats.

s.s.t.m.o.t.t.t., people. get a fucking grip. you are gonna kill people because they are praying with a female cantor? don't you have something better to do, like threatening fast-food chains because they offer pork products? hell, you can team up with the jews on that one! or maybe you can blow up catholic schools for their licentious association with those outfits so belov'd by the pr0n industry, the catholic schoolgirl's skirt and sweater. that's an equally noble target innit.

fucking backwards-ass tribal bitches. you're just pissed mukhtar mai won her case. well, get over it.

i always said we should just arm the women...