by Dr. Mateen Khan (Trenton, New Jersey)

Indeed, one of the sad losses in the modern Muslim community is a loss of `ubudiyyah (servanthood to Allah) as the approach to and goal of Muslim life. Our approach should reflect Islamicizing modern life rather than modernizing Islamic life. During the Prophetic era, the masjid served as the focal point of Islamic life for the community. Men and women frequented the Prophet’s ﷺ masjid. This article aims to place the masjid partition between men and women in its proper context.

The Prophetic Era

When we examine the hadith in an inclusive way, we can more fully appreciate how the simple, one-room masjid of Madinah operated. In general, the Prophet ﷺ established gender separation within the Muslim community and specifically, in the masjid.

For any particular salah, we would see the male Companions enter the masjid first and occupy the front rows…