The Conversation

Women who are acting as religious leaders in two Muslim communities in Europe. As women doing this is highly unusual, and is not accepted by most Muslim scholars and believers, Kim Chakanetsa asks them how they have been received and why it's so important to them. Sherin Khankan set up the feminist Mariam Mosque in Copenhagen in 2016. She calls herself a 'female imam' and she hopes to revolutionise thinking about the role of women in Islam, and offer an alternative to the traditional patriarchal structures within the religion. Though her mosque is controversial and not recognised by many within mainstream Islam, she says she has only received threats from the Danish far-right and not from fellow Muslims. Halima Krausen became Germany's first 'female imam' in 2013. She took over the running of the Hamburg Islamic Centre having stood in for a male imam on an informal basis for many years. She is currently focussing on her academic career at the Academy of World Religions at the University of Hamburg. She says more than anything else the role of imam is about being a counsellor. Left: Halima Krausen (credit: Jenny Schaefer) Right: Sherin Khankan (credit: Manyar Parwani)