The Inclusive Mosque Initiative (IMI) was founded in 2012, in London, UK. It is a grassroots activist organisation which works towards promoting the understanding of an intersectional feminist Islam.[1] In practice, this means that IMI spaces and events are organised to be as inclusive as possible; unlike many existing mosques and religious organisations, IMI is not divided along linguistic, sectarian, political or ethnic lines. The organisation makes every effort towards providing disabled access to and within its venues, including British Sign Language (BSL) within its services,[2] and giving translations of Arabic words when used.[citation needed]
The organisation is based in London and occasionally holds events in other UK cities. IMI is a registered charity in the UK with a board supported by advisers, volunteers, and two members of staff. The team that runs IMI "are a collective of practising Muslims who are part of many Muslim communities… [they] come from a range of Islamic backgrounds, including Sunni, Shia, Sufi, Quranist, Salafi, Barelvi, Islamic feminist, traditional, secular, progressive, unsure and conservative... [their] backgrounds also reflect the diversity within British Islam, including: Arab, mixed heritage, Malaysian, Central European, South Asian, East African, white reverts, North African and Persian".[3]
Significantly, the organisation was founded by two female activists, and female leadership remains central to their ethos. The initial conversations were between two women. Though the issue of gender justice in action was and still is a key component in the formulation of IMI, the differences in race, religious practice-denomination, age and activist experience helped shape the IMI concept to be plural from its outset.[4] The beginning of IMI emerged from their frustrations with the situation for women in many British mosques, where often women’s sections do not exist and ‘sometimes the facilities for women are very inferior, cramped, and not at all conducive to the attitude of worship.’[5] The Inclusive Mosque Initiative aims to offer alternative spaces of worship and promote Islam in a way which particularly includes marginalised communities. In 2015, the Inclusive Mosque Initiative UK became a registered charity.
IMI’s religious activities
IMI’s long-term aim is to build permanent, carbon-neutral mosque spaces which can function as physical centres for the organizations ongoing activities. In the meantime, IMI’s prayer spaces are ‘nomadic,’ based on the 'pop-up restaurant' or shop format, and traveling around the city of London and, less often, the country, in rented spaces; ‘Venue sites have therefore included cafes, secular community centres, a church, Buddhist centre, an Islamic institute and public parks.’[6] Since its inception IMI has held over 80 group prayers, and spiritual services, including zhikr, Qur'anic discussion circles, and multiple discussion and social events. Throughout the year IMI offers jummah services, iftaars and special events for religious festivals, and Eid prayers.
In 2015 it held a jummah in recognition of International Women's Day at St Johns Church in Waterloo London, hosting notable scholar and activist Dr. Wadud. [7]
Other IMI events
In addition to such religious services and practices, IMI organizes regular social events and discussions, which take up contemporary themes and facilitates discussion. In addition to its ongoing interest and commitment to eco-Islam, IMI’s working themes seem to be threefold; (1) gender and sexuality, (2) disability and mental health, and (3) interfaith, intrafaith and commonalities amongst humans.
IMI events usually feature a respected speaker, religious scholar, or specialist on the topic, and allows for informal exchange of ideas and experiences in an intentionally safe space. They also actively welcome non-Muslims to their spaces, which distinguishes IMI from many other mosques, and have held interfaith prayers and events in spaces rented from other faith-groups (such as St Johns Church, London). In practice IMI further proactively works towards welcoming and respecting everybody who attends their events, and promoting acceptance on both the inter-faith, and intra-faith levels. As the founders say;
The aims and purposes of an inclusive mosque are perhaps best demonstrated in what we do, or, our practices. These include, whilst continuing to widen as we learn(!), a range of practices such as full involvement of women at every level of the organisation (including ritual leadership); truly democratic decision making processes and organizational practices; fully accessible venues; that the dominant language of any geographic area be spoken at mosques, and if other languages are used during formal talks/prayers, that they are translated including the use of Sign Language, whenever possible; considerations of whether a hearing induction loop is available at venues and to utilize it, if there is accessible public transport links nearby and suitable car parking. Relatedly, food offered at Friday prayers (jummah) and events aim to be vegetarian, gluten free, along with dairy alternatives and maintaining a high level of health & safety cleanliness during preparations and clearly labeling foods which may contain allergens. IMI texts are printed in a relevantly suitable size font and ideally on an off-white background against the text to improve contrast for those with visual impairments.[8]
IMI’s events aim to reflect the interests and concerns of its regular stake-holders, whilst also expanding the boundaries of thinking on relevant social issues. Some recent topics covered include; Islamic banking, Humor in the Hadith, Mental Health & Jinn possession, Hijab & mosques, The Importance of Isa to Muslims, Islamic Masculinity, Mental health, Tackling Shadeism, converts, reverters, ex-Muslims, eco-Islam, Islam and adoption. IMI has also organized numerous talks around aspects of the Qur'an (such as Human rights in the Quran, natural phenomena and divine signs, and the significance of the Hijra), and collaborated with other organisations to provide discussions, spiritual services, creative and musical events and soup kitchen projects.
In addition IMI is particularly concerned with female involvement, management and access to its spaces, and ensuring that every attendee is able to access the space and content; 'The Management committee is a majority percentage of women, and all together takes responsibility for the strategic vision and its implementation of the inclusive mosques. The Management committee is supported by administrators and various other roles, including Imams, scholars, teachers, event organizers, advisors and consultants.'[9] Whilst not all of IMI’s volunteers may agree with Islamic feminist concepts, or identify as feminists, they remain, overall, united in their understanding of mosques as necessarily accessible to everyone. Unlike some of IMI’s producers, the volunteers reflect a vast range of religious identities and traditions, and it is this unique blend of inclusive ethos and diversity amongst its organizers that renders IMI spaces and events attractive to a wide demographic. Many of the events IMI organises are recorded and posted on their YouTube channel.[10]
Funding
IMI is funded entirely by donations and volunteers own contributions, and receives no local or national government funding.
Research
In 2013 IMI commissioned a pilot study into women's experiences of UK mosques, and aspirations for inclusion. This study ‘showed ... just how important mosques are to Muslim women and just how passionate, and emotional, people feel about being able to access and enjoy them. What was most surprising was how non-practicing women insisted that they would like to attend events and benefit from their local mosques, and how central they could be in everyone's lives, regardless of religious practice.[11]
As well as informing IMI’s work and stake-holder strategies, research output from this pilot study includes a book chapter in an edited collection[12] and as a peer-reviewed academic article in the Journal of Contemporary Islam.[13]
Genealogy of IMI
IMI was inspired by progressive Muslim scholarship, female disillusionment with existing mosque options, and recent activists efforts to reclaim the inclusive spirit of early Muslim community. As an organisation IMI traces its genealogy through Muslim activist efforts across the globe, particularly efforts around ritual and space-making practices which reflect an inclusive, plural and liberationist Islam. These include, but are not limited to; Nüsi mosques,[14]Progressive Muslim Union, Muslims for Progressive Values[15] chapters across the United States and the El-Tawhid Jummah Circle in Canada.[16] Other influences include the social medias which relate to such spaces (such as side entrance website),[17] Free Minds[18] website and the Muslim WakeUp! website. Under its statement of Intent the Inclusive Mosque Initiative offers five key aims;
provide a peaceful, enriching environment for worship and remembrance of Allah
create an inclusive sacred space that welcomes all people
respect the natural environment
value gender expression and gender justice as an integral manifestation of Islamic practice
facilitate inter-community and inter-faith dialogue and collaborate with others who are seeking change for social and economic welfare and justice[9]
Relatedly, and thematically linking both the above channels of influence is the work of progressive, feminist and liberationist scholars rereading primarily Islamic sources in practice-based ways, such as Wadud’s canonical work and activist endeavours on gender equality, and Asra Nomani’s ‘Islamic Bill of Rights for Women’. The emergence of IMI in the UK seems to accord with recent social commentary that observes an increasingly visible ‘emergence, and reemergence, and expansion of female religious leadership in a wide variety of Muslim communities ... Over the past thirty years the ranks of Muslim women active as religious leaders have swelled to include individuals from almost all parts of the globe, including the Middle East; North, East, West, and South Africa; Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia; Europe; and North America.[19]
That said, from its inception IMI has functioned to broaden the mosque environment, adding to the huge diversity of the 1500 mosques in the UK and promoting discussion about women’s inclusion within mosque culture. IMI is also fully committed to engaging with the broader community and welcomes non-Muslim attendants and participants to all events and activities. It allows for a space of respectful dialogue for all the various expressions of Islam to engage with one another, not only with the sometimes vague notion of ‘learning from one another,’ but also participating in a variety of Islamic traditions and practices.
IMI and the media
IMI works to engage Muslim and non-Muslim organizations around its inclusive ethos, and maintains various social justice campaigns. To this aim, it has collaborated with a range of other organizations on particular events, and is rapidly becoming an alternative British Muslim voice within British, and international, media channels.
Tolerance and non-violence
Tolerance is a key principle of Inclusive Mosque Initiative, which promotes interfaith dialogue and conflict resolution within both intra-faith and inter-faith situations. It is also one of the few British Muslim organisations which proactively includes non-Muslims in its work and events, although the management committee is all Muslim identified.
Feminism
Feminism is one of Inclusive Mosque Initiative's key concerns, the place of women in Islam, traditional gender roles in Islam and Islamic feminism are likewise major issues.[20] IMI provides a space where families can pray together and at times are led by women. In all circumstances, regardless of the madhab of salah or who's leading, there is no compulsion for attendants to join in salah.[21][22]
LGBT rights
Inclusive Mosque Initiative is intentionally inclusive and welcomes everyone who is interested in its activities. Whilst IMI is not a specifically queer organisation, amongst its social justice campaigns, IMI is openly concerned with the rights and safety of the LGBT community.[23] Imi also works with, and follows, guidance of progressive, liberationist readings of Islam, and welcomes everyone regardless of gender or sexual identities.[24]
IMI stresses the importance of freedom of expression with regards to Islamic law and the personal practice of Islamic spirituality. Ijtihad is the questioning of traditional interpretations of sharia in the light of modern wisdom and scientific knowledge. IMI encourages a holistic view of Islam which takes into account the 7th-century Arabian cultural context and recognises the differences between Muslim understandings of Islam and tradition.
Related Research Articles
Within the Muslim world, sentiment towards LGBT people varies and has varied between societies and individual Muslims, but is contemporarily quite negative. While colloquial, and in many cases, de facto official acceptance of at least some homosexual behavior was commonplace in pre-modern periods, later developments, starting from the 19th-century, have created a generally hostile environment for LGBT people. Most Muslim-majority countries have opposed moves to advance LGBT rights and recognition at the United Nations (UN), including within the UN General Assembly and the UN Human Rights Council. As of 2021, all countries that have capital punishment for homosexuality base those laws on interpretations of Islamic teachings.
A mosque, also called a masjid, is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Islamic prayers are performed, such as an outdoor courtyard.
Masjid-i-Jehan-Numa, commonly known as the Jama Masjid of Delhi, is one of the largest mosques in India.
Amina Wadud is an American Muslim theologian. Wadud serves as visiting professor at Indonesian Consortium for Religious Studies and was also a visiting scholar at Starr King School for the Ministry. Wadud has written extensively on the role of women in Islam.
There is a difference of opinion among Muslims regarding the circumstances in which women may act as imams, i.e. to lead a mixed gendered congregation in salat (prayer). The orthodox position is that women cannot lead men in prayer, which is justified by various Quranic verses and Hadith about the roles and responsibilities of men and women.
Islamic feminism is a form of feminism concerned with the role of women in Islam. It aims for the full equality of all Muslims, regardless of gender, in public and private life. Islamic feminists advocate for women's rights, gender equality, and social justice grounded in an Islamic framework. Although rooted in Islam, the movement's pioneers have also utilized secular, Western, or otherwise non-Muslim feminist discourses, and have recognized the role of Islamic feminism as part of an integrated global feminist movement.
Gender roles in Islam are based on scriptures, cultural traditions, and jurisprudence.
Asra Quratulain Nomani is an Indian American journalist and author. Born in India to Muslim parents, she earned a BA from West Virginia University in liberal arts in 1986 and an MA from the American University in international communications in 1990. She subsequently worked as a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal with her colleague Daniel Pearl in Pakistan post-9/11. Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists while following an investigative lead. Nomani later became the co-director of the Pearl Project, a faculty-student investigative-reporting project which has looked into Pearl's murder.
The Jummah Mosque formerly "Mosque of the Arabs", is a mosque in Port Louis, Mauritius dating from the 1850s. The building combines Indian, Creole and Islamic architecture. The Jummah Mosque houses the remains of Jamal Shah in a marble tomb next to the mosque.
The Bishwa Ijtema is an annual gathering of Muslims in Tongi, by the banks of the River Turag, in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Ijtema is considered a demonstration of Muslim unity, solidarity, mutual love and respect and an opportunity to reiterate their commitment to Islamic values. It is the biggest festival by population in Bengali culture, one of the largest peaceful gatherings in the world, and the second-largest Muslim gathering, with 5 million adherents, after the Arba'een Pilgrimage's 15–20 million attendees in Iraq, both surpassing the 2–3 million worshipers who participate in the Hajj, considered to be one of the five pillars of Islam, in Saudi Arabia. Bishwa Ijtema is a modern event where Muslim participation is voluntary.
Gender segregation in Islamic law, custom, law and traditions refers to the practices and requirements in Islamic countries and communities for the separation of men and boys from women and girls in social and other settings.
El-Farouk Khaki is a Tanzanian-born Muslim Canadian of Indian origin who is a refugee and immigration lawyer, and human rights activist on issues including gender equality, sexual orientation, and progressive Islam. He was the New Democratic Party's candidate for the House of Commons in the riding of Toronto Centre in a March 17, 2008 by-election. Khaki came in second with 13.8% of the vote.
Masjid Al-Abdul Razak is a mosque in Singapore, located at Jalan Ismail, off Jalan Eunos. The mosque is accessible from Eunos MRT station.
Brick Lane Mosque or Brick Lane Jamme Masjid, formerly known as the London Jamme Masjid, is a Muslim place of worship in Central London and is in the East End of London.
North Manchester Jamia Mosque is a mosque in the Cheetham Hill area of Manchester, run under the headship of Qamaruzzaman Azmi by the Ibadur-Rahman Trust. It is one of the largest Muslim centres in Europe.
Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV) is a grassroots human rights organization founded and incorporated by Zuriana (Ani) Zonneveld and Pamela K. Taylor in 2007. Headquartered in Los Angeles California, MPV has chapters around the United States as well as regional offices in Malaysia, the Netherlands as well as various other countries under different names such as Universal Muslim Community. It also has separate networks in Bangladesh, Canada, France, Chile, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia & throughout the U.S.
Non-denominational Muslims are Muslims who do not belong to, do not self-identify with, or cannot be readily classified under one of the identifiable Islamic schools and branches. Such Muslims do not think of themselves as belonging to a denomination but rather as "just Muslims" or "non-denominational Muslims."
Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed is a French-Algerian imam. An openly gay Muslim, Zahed is the founder of an Islamic prayer room in Paris, France, with the goal of accommodating the LGBT and feminist Muslim communities. He also founded the LGBT Muslim association HM2F, and manages the Calem Institute in Marseille.
Feminism in Pakistan refers to the set of movements which aim to define, establish, and defend the rights of women in Pakistan.This may involve the pursuit of equal political, economic, and social rights, alongside equal opportunity. These movements have historically been shaped in response to national and global reconfiguration of power, including colonialism, nationalism, Islamization, dictatorship, democracy, and the War on Terror. The relationship between the women's movement and the Pakistani state has undergone significant shifts from mutual accommodation to confrontation and conflict.
This is a list of individual liberal and progressive Islamic movements in Europe, sorted by country. See also Islam in Europe and Euroislam.
↑ Shannahan, D, S (2014). Gender, sexuality and inclusivity in UK mosque (in Marranchi, G., Islam in practiceed.). Routledge. pp.124–134.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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