Women's Mosque of America

~ In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate ~

Salaam everyone,

We are very excited to introduce you to our first khatibah for the Women's Mosque of America: Shaykha Reima Yosif, who is one of the amazing figures who directly inspired the creation of this mosque.

Shaykha Reima Yosif is the founding President of Al-Rawiya College online as well as its annual ShaykhaFest event, which draws Muslim women from around the world each year. A hafidha of the Qur'an with a diploma in Classical Arabic, Shaykha Reima has scholarly licenses to teach books of Hadith and Tafsir, and she has translated over 200 Islamic texts into English -- in addition to being a published poet. Shaykha Reima Yosif empowers her female Muslim students through efforts like the Alima Training Program, which was instrumental in inspiring the creation of the Women's Mosque. We believe that Shaykha Reima Yosif has the necessary vision and experience to help make the Women's Mosque of America a space where all Muslim women feel welcomed, empowered, and inspired. We look forward to partnering with her and her institutions in our singular goal to uplift Muslim women and girls.

In order to accommodate Shaykha Reima's schedule, we have adjusted the date for the first Women's Mosque jumma'a, which will now be held in early 2015, inshAllah. We thank you for your patience, and we look forward to seeing you at our first Friday prayer next year. In anticipation of our first jumma'a, we've included more information about Shaykha Reima Yosif below, as well as a video link to one of her inspiring talks.

At this time, we have begun the process of partnering with other organizations and building our cohort of volunteers to ensure that the Women's Mosque of America can have a broad impact. If you would like to pledge an amount to help us cover our start-up operation costs, please email us at WomensMosque@gmail.com to let us know.

InshAllah in our next newsletter, we will be sending out the official date, time, and additional details for our first Friday jumma'a prayer, so please stay tuned!

Thank you,
M. Hasna Maznavi & Sana Muttalib
Co-Presidents, Women's Mosque of America

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"O Humankind! Be mindful of your Lord, who created you from one soul, and from that soul created its partner, and from these two spread many men and women. Fear God in whose name you demand mutual rights from one another, and respect the wombs (that bore you). Verily, God is forever watchful over your actions." (Holy Qur'an 4:1)

Our 1st Khatibah!
Introducing Shaykha Reima Yosif

We are extremely excited to tell you more about our first khatibah, Shaykha Reima Yosif. We also invite you to watch one of her amazing talks at the link below this bio.

Shaykha Reima Yosif is the Founding President of Al-Rawiya College online. A hafidha of the Qur'an with a diploma in Classical Arabic, she has scholarly licenses to teach books of Hadith and Tafsir and has extensively studied and written on comparative Islamic Jurisprudence. She has translated over 200 Islamic texts into English and is also a published poet. Additionally, she has a BA and a Graduate Diploma in English and Comparative Literature from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt. As part of her AdR Fellowship, she completed Executive Education with Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, UK, and Essec Business School in France.

In 2006, Shaykha Reima founded Al-Rawiya College, which means female narrator. Al-Rawiya is the first fully accredited online theological seminary -- founded by a woman -- to offer advanced degrees in classical Islamic studies in the West. In addition to being the founding president, Shaykha Reima is a faculty member and teaches several classes.

Through Al-Rawiya, she introduced unique initiatives such as ShaykhaFest, intended to draw attention to and revive the tradition of female scholarship in historical and contemporary Islamic discourse. Furthermore, as part of her non-profit work, Shaykha Reima worked on a research project for Religions for Peace USA, commissioned by UNICEF in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Currently, Shaykha Reima resides on the East Coast and is working on her graduate studies in English Literature. As it turns out, she told us recently that the creation of a women’s mosque in the US has been a life-long dream for her, so she is especially excited to be the first khatibah for the Women's Mosque of America. We ask that you keep her in your duas and ask Allah to bless and protect her in this life and the next for all the amazing work she has done and will continue to do, inshAllah. Ameen.

Please click the link below to view one of our favorite lectures by Shaykha Reima Yosif. We are sure that after watching her speak, you'll be looking forward to hearing her deliver the first khutbah for the Women's Mosque of America!

Click HERE to watch a very empowering and relevant talk given by Shaykha Reima Yosif at a previous ShaykaFest

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How to Subscribe to Our Newsletter or Get Involved

If you'd like to SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter, help the Women's Mosque as a volunteer, or pledge or donate to our cause, please email us at WomensMosque@gmail.com. JazakAllahu Khair!

About the Women's Mosque of America

The Women's Mosque of America seeks to empower Muslim women and girls through more direct access to Islamic scholarship as well as to increase women's participation in leadership within the Muslim community and beyond. The Women's Mosque will provide a safe space for Muslim women of all backgrounds to feel welcome, respected, and actively engaged within the Muslim community at large.

Starting in early 2015, the Women's Mosque of America will provide women-led Friday jumma'a services for women and children (including boys 12 and under) once a month.

WomensMosque

WomensMosque@gmail.com

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