JEDDAH: It is becoming increasingly commonplace for women preachers to give Islamic lectures at homes.
For many years, they were invited to preach in tents in front of a female audience, but for unknown reasons this practice has stopped.
This has encouraged many women to invite these scholars to give talks at mosques or at their homes.
"During the whole year, we use to hold weekly sessions for women including friends, relatives and neighbors," said Hayat Al-Malki, a Saudi housewife.
"We used to arrange these sessions at our homes, but during Ramadan we meet at mosques. We hold the talks one hour before Taraweeh prayer, shortly after iftar. It is not important what degree the preacher has as long as she has a good knowledge of Islam and excellent preaching skills."
She said that during Ramadan, the number of those attending increase to more than 20 at any one session, while normally up to 12 attend.
"Most women preachers charge nothing and seek rewards from God," she said.
Rabea Al-Maziouni has been preaching for more than 10 years. She holds no formal degree in the Islamic studies.
"I live alone in Jeddah and I spend most of my time at home doing nothing," she said. "Ten years ago, I started reading books on Islam. I used to pray at mosques and there I met a number of my neighbors who had an interest in holding Islamic discussions at our homes."
She added that they started to organize three sessions a week.
"Recently, I start holding sessions in public places such as charity organizations and mosques," said Al-Maziouni.
Preaching tents are not available this year, said Sheikh Asem Al-Hakim, imam of Ja'far Al-Tayyar Mosque.
"The banning of preaching tents encourage imams to organize a larger number of Islamic sessions at mosques for both men and women," he added.
"Nowadays, organizing random Islamic discussions is not approved of, which is why the Ministry of Islamic Affairs is working with mosques to arrange a number of sessions for men and women. The sessions are always presented by well-known Islamic scholars."
Al-Hakim said home Islamic discussions are considered an effective way to strengthen relations between Muslims, but they do not attract many people because of space constraints.
"I favor sessions at mosques because they attract larger numbers of participants. With restrictions on preachers in tents, mosques will increase the frequency of sessions they hold," said Al-Hakim.
Al-Hakim confirmed that the Ministry of Islamic Affairs approves discussions held at mosques.
Other charity organizations and Qur'an schools are also participating by providing free preaching sessions.
Rima Al-Safadi, a Jordanian housewife, said that it does not matter whether she attends an Islamic discussion at official organizations or at a privately held session because Islam is a religion of peace and no one should preach violence.
© Arab News 2010
