Women and Mosques

We have a problem! 

In the UK there are approx 2100 mosques / Muslim prayer places, and around a third of those don't have a space for women to pray* 

Of those that do, many spaces are sub-standard and women often feel excluded and less valued than their male counterparts. Most Mosque Boards and Committees are made up of only men and the large umbrella bodies and Councils for Mosques are similar.   We are missing out on so much talent, skills that women can bring to the table to make our community spaces better and more inclusive. 

Women of course also have spiritual and practical needs and many of them look for a place they can go to meet other women, to discuss issues, to find comfort at difficult times in their lives. To be able to pray alongside their brothers and sisters in faith, is just as important for women as it is for men.  

Women in community spaces can play an important role in so many ways including pastural care, marriage and divorce matters, safeguarding and counselling services.  At present very few Mosques facilitate these kinds of services. Those places that are offering these services are progressing well and are seen as hubs of our communities.  Everyone has skills and resources they can bring to the table and that should be recognised and appreciated for women too.

Do you agree that the current picture is not OK?  Things need to change?

Help us make important changes now and for the future. 

This is a campaign led by Muslim women who are determined to see change. 
We are working all over the UK to build connections, to find out what is happening, to help fill gaps, to provide opportunities for women to be more involved in our UK Mosques, building allies across genders and faiths. 

The money raised will help contribute to five aspects of the work: 

1 - To map and share online the current picture in UK mosques regarding women's access and involvement using direct experiences and personal stories

2 - Collate and analyse the information we are given and discuss solutions, highlight where more work is needed, share best practice where things are going well

3 - A community education programme, highlighting women from Islamic history and their contribution. Working with scholars, teachers and activists to understand where culture and religion have become confused, highlight how Mosques were at the time of Prophet Muhammad and how we can bring those values to our communities in Britain today. 

4 - Provide training to Mosques and community groups in areas around gender equality, legal frameworks, good governance, good volunteer management and more. We will work with partners already operating in this space as well as identifying and filling gaps where we see they are not being met. 

5 - Work with Jewish, Christian and other faith partners to look at how they operate their places of worship, learn from them, get training and advice. 

We need more than the £5k being raised here but we are raising money from a range of diverse sources.  The project will run to the end of 2021. We need to pay for co-ordination and project management, we need to pay for training to be developed and delivered, we need to pay for research and for online resources including a website to show Mosques around the UK and how women perceive them.  

It has never been easy to raise money in Muslim communities for issues like these so your support is extra welcome because it shows that people are taking these issues seriously and that they cannot be ignored. 

The programme is being overseen and co-ordinated through Together We Thrive, a social enterprise empowering Muslim women to lead and create positive change and working with women of all backgrounds. 

We know that by opening up our community and Mosque spaces to women we will all benefit. Excluding half our community is not working, we can and will do better. 

Donating to this campaign will give us all a sense of connection, proving that we can make change happen. 
You will be kept up to date as the work progresses and can get involved and support in many different ways. 

Together,  we really can thrive.

For more information and to get involved go to  our website:

togetherwethrive.co.uk

* see http://www.muslimsinbritain.org/index.php for the most up to date statistics