Is She An Apostate?

On March 18, Dr. Amina Wadud--a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University--led a historic Friday prayer, or jumu'a, service in New York City. Traditionally, Muslim scholars have said and written that Muslim women are not allowed to lead other men in formal prayer, on Friday or otherwise. Wadud's belief to the contrary challenges centuries of Muslim thought on this issue; naturally, the event has caused an enormous amount of controversy.

The event drew a number of protesters. They held signs saying, "Mixed-Gender Prayers Today, Hellfire Tomorrow" and "May Allah's curse be upon Ameena Wadoud." Many have called Wadud an "apostate" for leading a mixed-gender Friday prayer. Brooklyn native Mohammed Nussrah, as quoted by the Associated Press, said, "If this was an Islamic state, this woman would be hanged." According to someone who attended the event, a bearded man was dragged out of the venue yelling "Allahu Akbar," or "God is the Greatest."

The prayer was held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, an Episcopal church in Manhattan. Yet, that was not the original choice: the Sudaram Tagore Gallery in New York. After a bomb threat was received, the venue was dropped out of concern for the safety of the participants, and organizers did not announce the new location. Three mosques refused to host the event, although no reason was reported.

My purpose in speaking about this issue is not to debate the merit of Wadud's argument about women leading mixed gender prayer. I'll leave that to the scholars of our community. What motivates me to write is the reaction by some in the Muslim community to this event.

Wadud is an "apostate"? God's curse should be upon those who organized the event? Hellfire is in store for those who attended the mixed-gender Friday prayer? A bomb threat to the gallery? Why? Because Wadud believes that women are allowed to lead a mixed-gender prayer? One of the prayer service's chief sponsors, MuslimWakeup.com, was repeatedly hacked in the days and weeks before the event. On one of these occasions, the hackers re-directed the site to one entitled, "Murtad Wakeup." Murtad is the Arabic term for "apostate."

This angers me very deeply. Why can't these detractors disagree without being violently disagreeable?

First of all, the Qur'an clearly states that Muslims should not accuse each other of not being Muslim. Verse 4:94 says, "O ye who believe! When ye go abroad in the cause of God, investigate carefully, and say not to any one who offers you a salutation of peace: 'Thou art not a believer!' Coveting the perishable goods of this life: with God are profits and spoils abundant. Even thus were ye yourselves before, till God conferred on you His favours: Therefore carefully investigate. For God is well aware of all that ye do" (4:94).

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