India: Firsts For Muslim Women

From the Times of India: Muslim Women Offer Eid Prayers

Fighting back convention, 1,000 women congregated at Hyderpur in Malda to offer Eid namaz on Saturday just like their male counterparts. Succeeding in breaking free from the shackles of male domination, the women gathered under the banner of Muslim Mahila Janakalyan Samity and prayed, led not by a moulvi but a woman from among them.

"We have been doing this for the last nine years. It is the first all-women prayer to be held in West Bengal. We are proud that women are coming out from behind the purdah. There were initial objections from male family members, but they have now accepted it," said Shamima Begum, who led the prayer.

From the Times of India: Kendrapara Mosque Opens To Women

Hundreds of Muslim women offered prayers at an exclusive namaz for females at Kendrapara's Minar mosque on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Saturday. Mosque authorities said the annual event was aimed at women's empowerment.

"Each year, Eid brings joy to hundreds of women from the Alhadis sect in Kendrapara as they offer special prayers at the mosque at Badahat in Kendrapara," said Ainur Haque, cleric of Minar mosque. "The mosque managing committee's decision is a bold step towards giving women equal rights," he added.