The Mosque as an Educational Space: Muslim Women and Religious Authority in 21st-Century Spain

Abstract

This article presents the results of a fieldwork project from January to April 2017 in Spanish mosques, an on-the-ground investigation using interviews with female Muslim teachers who constitute a sort of women’s movement within Islamic education in Islamic associations and schools across Spain. These women reflect on their zeal for teaching and the desire to receive an education in Islamic studies among Muslim women, students and teachers, who participate in these activities to transmit their knowledge of Islam in Spain. These female teachers form a heterodox group of interconnected educators who have acquired status within their communities, legitimized by their ability to impart Islamic religious knowledge, and who could prove to be potential alternative educational authorities in Spanish Islam. This educational activity by and for women in Spanish mosques, which has been studied by others at the European level could be seen as a revitalization of religious dynamics or as processes of re-Islamization. However, as the interviewees themselves observe, ‘we never stopped believing and practicing’, suggesting that this educational activity should be situated within the framework of the active search for Islamic knowledge in a non-Islamic European context.

A Foucauldian discourse analysis of women's resistance against exclusion from a mosque in Johannesburg

“…Some posts disagreed with patriarchal discourses of secluded domesticity for Muslim women, as discussed by Davids (2018) and Hoel (2013), based on examples from the time of the first mosque in Medinah, where families were welcome and the Prophet (PBUH) prayed with his daughters and grandchildren (Mateo, 2019). Women during the time of the Prophet visited their relatives, attended lessons … and went to the market … how is it possible to ban them from mosques?…”

“…These women demonstrated self-reflexive processes when interpreting religious information and did not always agree with the interpretations of the mosque leadership, which was overwhelmingly male (Nyhagen, 2019). There are many influential women in leadership positions in mosques in Europe, and their presence is legitimised by the active presence of Muslim women leaders in Islamic history (Mateo, 2019). This is contrary to dominant Western and Orientalist discourses of Muslim women as submissive and lacking religious authority (Ali & Sonn, 2019).…”

School space selection preferences: Architectural perspective toward formal school

“…In the past, the mosque's function was only a place of worship for Muslims. Now, the mosque's operations grow not only as a Muslim center but also as a religious tourism site, a place of learning, both for general science and Islamic spiritual knowledge [35]- [37]. The mosque is a symbol of religion and emphasizes the function of space as a public building.…”

Religious Mosque Leaders (Khateebs): Awareness, Perceptions, Practices and Attitude towards Mental Health, Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia

“…Mosques linked with faith-related education and sermons are the most sacred places of our Allah (He-Exalted and Glorified), and Islam based on Quranic stance guides Muslims to pray five times in mosques and other religious practices for better public mental health around the world [1,2]. The Friday prayer (Noon, Zuhr) has special meaning and is the most important prayer of the week.…”