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Amina WadudProfessor Dr. Amina Wadud was the subject of much debate and Muslim juristic discourse when she led a Friday prayer congregation of over 100 Muslim men and women in the Episcopal cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York on March 18, 2005, breaking with the tradition of having only male imams. (Three mosques had refused to host the service, while an art gallery was persuaded through a bomb threat to refuse the service as well.) The event was the first time a woman to lead a Friday prayer so publicly and this event was the most widely-publicised in the world of a female imam. See Women as imams for a discussion of the issue. In August 1994, Dr. Wadud delivered a Friday khutbah (sermon) on "Islam as Engaged Surrender" at the Claremont Main Road Mosque in Cape Town, South Africa. At the time, this too was largely unheard of in the Muslim world. As a result, there were attempts in Virginia by some members of the Muslim community to have her fired from her position at Virginia Commonwealth University. Many conservative Muslims around the world, including some in the Mideast, have declared Dr Wadud's imamate in New York as blasphemous but others consider it as a fresh breeze through the door of Ijtihad. She has reportedly been threatened by some people who holds to the fundementals of Islam. Conservative opinions may have contributed to the mosques' refusal of Dr. Wadud's service. Almost all ulema agree that it is against Islam to have a woman Imam lead a prayer when there is a male in the congregation. The prophet Muhammad has never practiced the Imamate of a woman in a Salat where there were male attending it. See also External Links
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