At the Masjid: Pixie's Style

My Masjid is two separate houses side by side, one for men, and one for women. Each has its own wudu facilities and multiple rooms for salat. We have speakers in our side to hear the prayers announced and to hear the khutbah (though on warm days we leave the windows open so the speakers aren't always needed). One special thing about our Masjid is, is that the woman's side isn't actually attached the men's (the Masjid proper) and so it is a Musalla (prayer hall) rather than a Masjid. That means, if you have your period, you can still come to hear the khutbah, and women who are interested in learning about Islam, don't have to don hijab to just come in and listen/speak to us. I find this has been very easy for us in terms of dawah oppurtunities, and our convert community is, alhamdulilah, growing especially in terms of women.

We have cooking facilities as well, as and the Musalla acts (since it is not a Masjid) as a social gathering point for different Islamic occasions, such as studying sessions (Qu'ran and ahadith), ikikahs (Islamic baby showers:D), iftars.... Our imam is also very approachable for the women in that he will email you back about anything, providing sources of hadith ect, or if you disagreed with or did not understand something in the khutbah...

Since our Masjid is separated from the men, I can wear whatever I want inside. I can wear the minimum requirements for salat instead of full jilbab, and if I am not praying, then I can be comfortable in non-hijab clothes... When coming into the masjid, I tend to like to wear traditional abaya (black, maroon, green, brown---ya know, the darker colours), and wear my shayla over my face (I pull it over my eyes and nose---lol, I am not one of those women with what men consider a sexy mouth LOL, unlike a few other sisters I know, hey there Boxie and Aalia ...I know to cover my eyes). When I'm inside I just pull the shayla back up over my forehead since I believe it is best to pray with an uncovered face. I only wear a mouth covering niqab if I know I have to be seated among the men for some event, like when we had an educational program at the University for non-muslims about fasting where Boxie, S, and I were the only women among the brothers.

If I am wearing a full face of make-up (because of something I am doing after salat) I cover the overly made up parts of my face upon entering and leaving the masjid, like below: BTW, these are all my clothes, but some of the women posing in them are not me (my little sister for example). Please do not remove or repost from this blog any pictures that could be me without my written permission. Love you all for the sake of Allah!

And P.S Coffee Catholic: the Masjid, is the Islamic Mosque, one and the same:D