The Asian News Network report on the Top 100 Mosques demonstrated by the Developing Diversity Directory which Faith Matters produced. The report by the Asian News Network can be found here:

Developing Diversity gets more press, Metro, Republika and many others see below…

Metro: The document awards star ratings to mosques judged by a series of requirements including providing separate prayer space to women.
A directory of 100 ‘women-friendly’ mosques in England has been launched

Other criteria include services and activities for women, an imam accessible to women – or a woman scholar – women holding office on mosque committees and the inclusion of women in decision making at operational and strategic levels in the mosque.
The directory, by the inter-faith and conflict resolution organisation Faith Matters contains 50 mosques which have met all five criteria and 50 where four of the standards have been met.

Researchers for the directory assessed 486 mosques in order to draw up the directory.

News Source: Metro https://www.metro.co.uk/news/830009-women-friendly-mosques-praised
Image Source: Republika.co.id https://www.republika.co.id/berita/dunia-islam/islam-mancanegara/10/06/09/119092-muslim-inggris-luncurkan-direktori-masjid-ramah-perempuan

Other Press Releases:
One India: https://news.oneindia.in/2010/06/09/100most-women-friendly-mosques-directory-launched-inengl.html
Guardian: https://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jun/09/women-friendly-mosques-directory

For the Developing Diversity Directory Booklet Click Here.

The top one hundred mosques for meeting the needs of Muslim women will be revealed at the launch of a ‘Developing Diversity’ directory on 10 June 2010.

The directory is compiled and launched by inter-faith, community cohesion and conflict resolution organisation Faith Matters, with government and national women’s Muslim groups’ support.

Every mosque in the ‘women friendly’ directory is listed as either five or four star depending on how many of the five key criteria, identified by Muslim women as important to them in their places of worship, they met.

The five key criteria include the provision of separate prayer space for women; services and activities geared towards women; and an Imam or female scholar who is accessible to women. The inclusion of women in decision-making processes and on mosque committees were also considered of primary importance to Muslim women.

This list was compiled through interviews with over one hundred Muslim women living across England from Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Somali and Turkish communities. Approximately five hundred mosques across England were assessed via telephone and face-to-face meetings against the five criteria.

Speaking at the launch of the directory, the Founder and Director of Faith Matters Fiyaz Mughal said:
“This project is the first of its kind to focus on the needs of women and their access to, and participation on the governance and day to day functioning of the Mosque.

“We hope the directory will provide key reference points for other institutions to improve upon so that they can build on the best practice examples that are celebrated here today.”

Director of the New Muslims project and member of the National Muslim Women’s Advisory group Batool Al‐Toma said:

“This project must be hailed as a welcome and useful exercise for the whole of the Muslim community in the UK.
“Secure and safe places for the performance of prayer for women are long overdue and will be warmly welcomed by women who have been struggling to deliver on these sought after requirements for several decades.”

Notes to editors:
Event: Launch of first ever directory of women friendly mosques in England
Date: 9 June 2010
Time: 10am – 12pm
Address: The Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre, 244 Acklam Road, London. W10 5YG

One hundred mosques provided the basis for the Developing Diversity directory published by Faith Matters which looked at the top 100 leading mosques in England which met a majority of the criteria that Muslim women wanted to see within them.

Inclusion and accessibility to religious institutions not only helps to increase the development of healthy communities but it also sends a powerful message to those who think equality is of secondary concern within some religious places of worship. This is relevant to all faith communities and in this instance, the project looked at existing good practice within mosques in England.

The purpose of this project was therefore to compile a directory of the 100 leading mosques that provided the best access to women, catering for their needs and allowing them to play their rightful role in the decision making processes. Each mosque was awarded a rating out of five stars based on criteria developed through women’s focus groups.The directory was launched through high-profiled local events and widely circulated to all statutory national and local bodies, encouraging these bodies to work with these best practice mosques.

500 mosques were contacted throughout England in the course of the project and the top 100 were rated and then included in the booklet.

The purpose of this project can therefore be summarised as follows. Faith Matters attempted:

1) To develop criteria through Muslim women’s focus groups for measuring how ‘women-friendly’ a mosque is.

2) To provide a mapping of the 100 most women friendly mosques in Britain – i.e, more stars, more women-friendly.

3) To encourage government and other statutory agencies to engage and work with the most women-friendly and best practice mosques where this is likely to help reach particularly hard to reach groups.

4) To bring recognition to the socio-economic welfare activities of the mosques.

5) To encourage a sense of competition between mosques so as to improve their engagement with and inclusion of women.

6) To improve the role of women in mosques, how mosque services respond to their needs, and the opportunities for them to play a greater role in their mosques and communities.

7) To enable women to acquire the skills and confidence to seek positions of leadership within their communities and wider society.

Focus groups for the project were held in London (Harrow and Haringey), Coventry, Derby, Manchester, Birmingham and Bradford and over 100 women were involved in the focus groups. The work therefore covered the East Midlands, West Midlands, North West, London and Yorkshire regions.

Initially, the focus groups covered mainly Pakistani women with few examples of Turkish, Somali or Bangladeshi Muslim women. We knew that this could potentially skew results and we then further undertook 3 focus groups in London and Manchester that included Somali and Turkish speaking women.  In total, 8 focus groups were held and the results of the focus groups led us to the following conclusions. These conclusions were used as benchmarks through which to assess the mosques on.

1.    Separate prayer space for women,

2.  Services and activities for women (i.e. childcare and or women’s training or mentoring sessions),

3.    An Imam accessible to women (or a women scholar),

4.    Inclusion of women in decision making,

5.    Women holding office on the mosque committees

This Developing Diversity Directory is the first of its kind and places the role of women directly within the development of mosques. Historically within Islam, the role of women was central to the development of Muslim communities and within the life of mosques and this history cannot and should not be forgotten. Women are fundamental to the development of healthy and pro-active communities and their role within faith institutions is no different. They are drivers for positive social change.

The Developing Diversity Directory can be downloaded by pressing on the link.