Muslim feminist plans to open liberal mosque in Britain

London July 27 (IANS) A Muslim feminist who founded a liberal mosque in Berlin triggering death threats and fatwas is planning to open an inclusive place of worship in the UK saying a revolution in Islam is under way the media reported.

Seyran Ates 54 a Turkish-born lawyer and human rights campaigner visited London this week to investigate potential sites for a liberal mosque open to men women and the LGBT community on an equal basis and people from all strands of Islam the Guardian reported.

She hopes to establish such a mosque within a year and says her aim is to create similar places of worship in every European capital.

"I m not alone with this idea. It is a movement it s a revolution " she told the Guardian.

"I may be the face of the liberal mosque but I alone am not the mosque. We have millions of supporters all over the world."

However the opening of the Ibn Rushd-Goethe mosque in a space rented from a Lutheran church in Berlin last month prompted a hostile reaction from conservative Muslims in Europe Egypt and Turkey.

Ates received death threats via social media and was told "you will die" during a street confrontation.

Turkey s main Muslim authority Diyanet said the mosque was an experiment "aimed at nothing more than depraving and ruining religion" the Guardian reported.

Ates also takes a tough line on headscarves. When she opened the Berlin mosque she said women wearing burqas or niqabs would not be admitted.

"There is no Islamic requirement (to cover one s head). There is no theological argument even in the most conservative interpretation of the Quran " she told the daily adding "It s men saying ‘I cover her because she is my property. "

She is hoping to gather 100 000 signatures from the UK for her effort.

--IANS
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