Turkey: Women Want Equality in the Mosque | European Journal

Up to now in Turkey, women entering mosques had to use side entrances and sit in dimly lit corners in galleries. The institution in Ankara known as the Presidency of Religious Affairs now wants to end this discrimination.Turkey’s Diyanet, or Presidency of Religious Affairs, wants to encourage women to visit mosques and allow them to take part in Friday prayers beside the men. The institution, which presides over the country’s nearly 80,000 mosques, is hoping to change Islam’s misogynist image. This is a major change, and reaction to it has been reserved. After all, for centuries, the mosques virtually belonged to men on Fridays. But women’s influence in Islam is growing: in some cities, there are already even female muftis.