So, I never really elaborated on Day 2 and how KL began to claim a piece of my heart. As I said, the clouds cleared a little bit and with that came a new KL. We caught a train to the National Mosque and Museum. We also explored the Central Markets and China Town. As I was dressed casually in a cotton shirt and pants, I packed an abaya for the mosque at the same time realizing that the small backpack I chose to bring with me was not big enough for a day out while traveling. I made a mental note to try and purchase a bigger one at the markets.
Just as we approached the mosque, the batteries in my camera decided to run out. The mosque is beautiful. White, light and spacious with a beautiful luminous blue dome. Shoes are discarded at the bottom of the stairs before entering the mosque complex and purple hooded gowns and head scarves are offered to those who are not appropriately covered for entry. This is where I might begin to examine the site in terms of access, particularly for women.
We file through the beautiful courtyard area and gather at the entry to the salat area. As I arrive, a Muslim gentleman at the entrance to the grand salat room is already in impassioned conversation with a young woman in our group, concerning the status of women in Islam. (I say "grand" salat room, only because I cannot right now think of a better word, and do not yet have direct experience of any "grander" mosques as yet, but though large and ornate it is not overbearing in its grandiosity). Behind me, my Christian friend Julia is making dua with a circle of Muslim men seated on the floor. Why did my camera have to die now! Someone else from our group, thankfully, notes the moment and duly records it.
A huge space is spread out before me in which to pray, but as a Muslim woman I am accustomed to inquiring humbly, "Where do the women pray, please?" I ask the Muslim gentleman just this and he directs me to an area behind screens, right at the back, access to the spaciousness of the worship area stunted, confirming my broader experience with mosques. Still, I think, at least I am under the dome: I am here.
We went on to visit the Islamic Museum which contained exclusively Islamic artefacts, many of them from Turkey. I never saw evidence of a museum of traditional Malay folk history or anything like that. Perhaps such a thing exists, but my feeling is that artefacts pertaining to traditional Malay culture would not have been favoured during Islamisation due to their association with magic and the occult, forbidden in Islam. (After returning home I was to discover that KL does indeed have a National Museum containing artefacts from the cultural histories of all ethnic groups in Malaysia). I was impressed with the contemporary art movement in KL and the amount of space the newspapers devoted to it. I did not have time to visit the KL Art Gallery due to a heavy schedule of meetings and not really thinking of it until too late. But I believe the fact that there is a vibrant contemporary art movement in the society is indicative of a certain level of freedom which is able to allow and inspire self-expression.
Later, we return to the National Mosque for dhuhr prayer. As I again approach the entrance to the salat room I see a wondrous sight: at the halfway point of the main prayer area, in the very centre of that glorious space, behind the men who are clustered at the front, stands a row of praying Muslim women, all in white! With a sharp intake of breath I hesitate only for the briefest of moments before hastening to join them. Another woman with two little girls, also veiled for prayer, join us, followed by a woman all in black with niqab. As I make my salat inside a masjid “proper” for the first time in my life as a Muslim woman, I weep quietly… After salat-al-dhuhr, the men begin to disperse, and it is now that the women scatter like birds, retreating behind the screens at the back to perform their voluntary prayers in privacy.
Having come from Brisbane, where the women’s prayer area is always a little room, cut off, without, it seems, even the option to pray in the greater mosque area behind the men, as was done in the time of our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, today’s salat was a peak experience for me. I come away wondering just what would happen if I entered one of the mosques back home and took up a space at the back to pray, behind the men? What could they do to me? What would they say? Is it time to demand for ourselves as Australian Muslim women the “dual option” as practiced here in Malaysia? By this I mean having the option to pray behind the men and fully enjoy the space of the masjid, or to enjoy the privacy of the screened area, as is also our right.
Masha Allah well said Sarah! There needs to be more rights for our Sisters here in Australia to share the Mosque space and not be ushered into a dark small space. May Allah make this an opening to a more healthier discussion on this issue and get more brothers involved to help create more of a balanced worship for the Sisters here in Oz...Ameen
ReplyDeleteThanks Ismail, alhamdulillah. There are practical issues too though at our mosques in terms of space- often the men are overflowing onto the grass at Kuraby for example. I should think they would be quite resistant to sharing that space with women. It's often to do with the way these buildings were designed and the status quo that was established at the start. But change is not impossible if we can think of a gentle, creative way to go about it. There will be cultural issues too. It's tricky but there must be a way of getting women some space in at least one mosque in Brisbane...I actually don't know if this is important to a lot of women, but I have heard some sisters complain. Would be interesting to do a study and find out what sisters want.
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