27 December 2013

Paris mosque sparks fury over separation of sexes

Female worshipers at the Great Mosque of Paris, the oldest and most prestigious in the country, are demanding the right to pray alongside men following the mosque’s decision to separate the sexes.

After a ruling earlier this month, women must pray in a separate room located underneath the main prayer hall.

The decision has sparked uproar among members of France’s Muslim community, French television TF1 reported this week.

.... Until then, women had prayed in the main communal prayer room behind a curtain that separated them from the men, according to Muslim tradition, TF1 reported.

“To give them more comfort, we have granted women a large room – not in the basement, but in the mezzanine. All the women are satisfied. Of course they can’t see the imam, but they couldn’t before either, because they were behind a curtain,” a spokesman for the mosque told Le Figaro. [The Local] Read more