Islamic Feminists Hold Pray-Ins at U.S. Mosques to Protest Gender-Segregated Worship and Other Discrimination Against Muslim Women. – WSJ.com.

There is nothing in Qur’an or Hadith that supports the practice of segregating the genders during prayers by having separate rooms. And, as is pointed out in the article, there is plenty of ahadith that describe men and women praying in the same room. The separate rooms situation is bidah and bidah is the road to hell, as is often reported. I was totally amazed when I went on my first trip to Morocco that the women were separated into a room where they could not even see the rest of the congregation. I had prayed in masajid in the US and always men and women were in the same room. Men in the front rows and women in the back rows. This is what is supported by hadith, and that is what I support.

At the same time as there is much to be gained by freeing us from the false cultural practices that are put upon us as Islamic, there is also much to be gained by being authentic in our deen. But I feel that caution must be taken, there are also good practical and inner meanings to the way Rasul Allah (swt) guided us and acted as our exemplar. There are lines that should not be crossed. This requires real understanding of the hadith and the Qur’an, not a knee jerk reaction because of what we see others doing.