Inside
The story behind Muslimah
15 July 2020
A hot summers day in London, Ilford Lane is like a glorious invasion of the senses. The excited rumble of chatter vibrating down the street, building anticipation for all the wonders that will be discovered that day; the bright and extravagant outfits in shop windows blinding you as easily as the sun’s rays in your eye; the smell of mouth-watering Indian snacks intensified by the heat making even the most satisfied of shop goers hum with hunger and finally indulge in the splendid flavours of their favourite snack.
Then suddenly you remember — you haven’t prayed! Not to worry, you know of a Mosque in this area . . . but it doesn’t have a prayer space for women. Thank God for Google! Simultaneously you’re mentally calculating how long it would take to race back home and pray. A couple of searches later and it hits you — there’s nowhere nearby you can go and if you don’t want to miss this prayer you need to go home empty handed and snappish.
Sound familiar? For Muslim women, this is a very relatable situation. Balancing day to day life with our faith is our unspoken motto as are the internal questions we ask ourselves daily. When should we do our morning prayer if we have an early start? In the middle of the night or before sunrise? Is this top too tight? Is this snack halal? Where can I pray? It’s one hell of a mental load, but one we embrace with open arms as it gives us a beautiful sense of purpose — knowing that our lives have more meaning than the materialistic things that shape them, knowing that we have an ultimate goal. This shared experience gives us a sisterhood and we wouldn’t change it for the world, but we can certainly change the world to make things easier.
In fact, we’re living in a time where women are finally starting to break the chains of the patriarchal structure that dominates our society. As ambitious and as dramatic as these last few sentences sound it is important to remember that big strides can also be taken by small steps. Before we live in a world where all prayer spaces welcome women, we can make it easier to locate female prayer spaces that already exist. This lets Muslim women know that they count. This shows them that their needs are being considered. This is empowerment.
Muslimah is designed with the Muslimah user in mind. It integrates the many aspects of faith in day to day life, making it easy for Muslim women to fit life around faith with just a tap on a smartphone. So, when you next visit Ilford Lane and you realise it’s time to pray you can happily continue in the knowledge that there is no need for you to go home empty handed, because you know exactly where the closest female prayer space is.
This article has been verified for Fiqh accuracy by Shaykh Maruf Ahmed. As a Muslimah who travels fairly often whether for weekend getaways, family trips, or spiritual retreats one of the biggest struggles I’ve faced is keeping my prayers intact without panic. Between my plane landing and hotel check-in, I'd often catch myself thinking, “Will I miss Asr while in traffic? Is it allowed to pray on the plane? Can I shorten my prayers, or is that a Hanafi no-no?” The constant worry used to follow me every time I travelled until I learnt just how much flexibility Islam gives us on the move. So I decided to explore how each of the four major schools of thought Hanafi, Shafi’i, Maliki, and Hanbali approach the rulings on prayer during travel. Spoiler: Islam is far more considerate of our everyday challenges than we sometimes realise. Travelling can be hectic and unpredictable, yet our faith makes space for those moments and eases the burden more than we realise. Tip: If you follow a particular madhhab, stick to it consistently during your trip to avoid confusion or accidental mixing of rulings.
With the August Bank Holiday just around the corner, many of us will be travelling across the UK—whether it’s a city break, a family visit or simply making the most of a long weekend. For Muslim women, finding prayer facilities while on the move can sometimes be a challenge, especially near busy train stations. That’s why we’ve put together this guide to mosques and prayer rooms close to major mainline train stations across the UK . From London to Scotland, the Midlands to Wales, here’s where you can find female-friendly spaces to pray during your journeys. And don’t forget—you can also use the Muslimah App's Prayer Space Locator. With over 700 verified UK prayer spaces in our database, including mosques, multi-faith rooms and prayer rooms, Muslimah helps you quickly find the nearest prayer space wherever you are in the UK. London
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