Women protest over prayers
6:29pm Friday 17th October 2008
Protesters demonstrated outside a Muslim centre in North Oxford to object to a woman leading an Islamic prayer meeting.
Today’s prayers, at the Muslim Education Centre of Oxford, in Banbury Road, were thought to be the first time a woman has led a mixed congregation of Muslims in this country.
‘I decided to come because it was something new and I wanted to see what she was going to say’
Vakkas Tekin
Nine women staged a peaceful protest outside the centre, holding placards saying “True Muslims respect Sharia law” and “Women leading the prayer is against Islamic law”.
Two police officers kept watch on the protest.
Maryam Ramzy, who works at Oxford’s all-Muslim Iqra School and is married to the school’s chairman Hojjat Ramzy, said: “We are practising Muslim women and we believe women should not lead the prayer.
“The main reason is because of the position when we pray, we put our heads on the floor and backside in the air and if there are men behind us it ruins their prayer.
continue reading at http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/3769513.Women_protest_over_prayers/
