Ignore the male relative behind the curtain.
Via JPost
Approximately 150 women gathered at an interfaith center in Los Angeles for what may be the first all-female Mosque in the United States on Friday afternoon.
Male imams traditionally lead prayers and Quran teachings but the Women’s Mosque of America, which claims to be the country’s first female-only mosque, aims to present an alternative by creating an all-female space for prayer, lead by a female imam.
Word of the event spread to Muslim women across the country through social media sites, such as Facebook and twitter, and leadership retreats. Some women from New Jersey and Nevada decided to travel and be a part of what they consider a historical event.[…]
“We just wanted to have a safe space where women could come and get inspired and hear from a female khatiba or someone who delivers the khutbah or the sermon and that’s an opportunity that we don’t get in other mosques. The speaker is always a male imam and not only that, it’s very hard to access the imam because of the way the mosques are structured architecturally. Sometimes the men and women are completely cut off from one another. This mosque gives us a chance to connect with our leaders and also with one another in a way that we wouldn’t in another environment,” said Maznavi.
The traditional Friday prayer, or jummah, is currently only scheduled to take place once a month but the founders of Women’s Mosque of America, as well as some attending worshipers, hope the prayers can be held every Friday.