Women imams in China

Fascinating news from China:  there is an increase in female imams among the Muslim community - they are called "ahong" and exit mainly in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous region, where most of the country's Islam-faith Hui ethnic minority live. Jin, one of them, teaches fifteen women students and says " I want to teach them the holy scriptures and hope they can be inspired and think independently...Women ahongs are the best qualified to do this because they can communicate with the female faithful in ways the male ahongs can't."  In Arabic countries women imams are very rare.  Which - like the Anglican-African gay row -  just goes to illustrate how religions are coloured strongly by culture as well as by their apparent irreducible core.

Comments

[Chris]

To characterize these women as Imams is incorrect. Women throughout the Muslim world are allowed to lead segregated female only groups in prayer, so the phenomenon described here is not unique or particularly innovative. In this sense women have traditionally been able to perform the function of an Imam, but only to other women. The position of Imam, as we think of it as a mixed gender communal religious leader, is still the preserve of men.