Establishing a place of worship for the promotion and practice of inclusive mosque space

Est. 2012

About

The Inclusive Mosque Initiative is an intersectional feminist mosque dedicated to creating inclusive, safer places for marginalised Muslims and their families, especially non-traditional families. We are committed to reviving a rights-based Islam that challenges all forms of oppression. We call ourselves a mosque to demonstrate that a mosque is made up of a community, not bound by a building.

 

Our Core Values

Intersectionality
We aim to have a critical awareness of the dynamics of power and privilege, and recognise that systems of oppression are interconnected. We work against racism (including anti-Blackness, Islamophobia, antisemitism), homophobia, transphobia and gender-based discrimination, poverty, ableism, and environmental damage.

 

Solidarity
We express solidarity with marginalised people including immigrant, refugee, disabled, working class and poor, Black and brown people as well as anyone affected by poverty. We are critical of the State violence enacted on these communities through excessive surveillance, police brutality, the prison industrial complex, national borders, poverty, and the Prevent duty, to name a few. We do not accept government funding.

 

Accountability
We are committed to learning from each other and welcoming differences of opinions and practice. We ask our community to hold us accountable to ensure we uphold these values.

Consultancy

Inclusive Mosque Initiative offers consultancy and trainings to individuals and organisations on Islam, Feminism, inclusion of Black and brown people and LGBTQ+ communities.

This is a bespoke consultancy service to meet the needs of clients from our pool of experts. For further information, please use the contact form to send us a message.

 

Islamic Marriage Ceremonies

Imams at the Inclusive Mosque Initiative are available to conduct Islamic Marriage Ceremonies for couples over the age of 18 including same-sex, genderqueer and interfaith couples. We require that all couples confirm in writing that they understand our marriage ceremonies are not recognised by law. We recommend that all couples who choose to affirm their relationship through an Islamic Marriage Ceremony also have a civil ceremony that is legally binding and conducted by a registrar. You don't need an imam for your nikkah to be valid. The key criteria of a marriage in Islamic jurisprudence is primarily that:
  • there is consent and free will between the individuals getting married, indicated by the couple agreeing upon a marriage contract;
  • in the Sunni schools of jurisprudence it is also stipulated that the union be witnessed by at least two people.
Both of these criteria can be fulfilled by a civil marriage so a religious ceremony is not required if a civil ceremony will be done. We currently have availability for up to two marriage ceremonies per month on a first come, first served basis. Our ceremonies are officiated by a female imam; we cannot currently provide or recommend male or nonbinary imams. You can contact us here if you're interested in this service.

Our Team

Naima Khan (she/her)

Director

Naima has been Director of Inclusive Mosque Initiative since August 2020. She oversees the implementation of IMI's strategy to bring radically inclusive intersectional feminist practice to Muslim social justice work. She has a background in the philanthropy sector and communications roles in the third sector. She is a regular contributor to radio shows on topics including feminism, religion and the arts. Naima was Programme Manager of the first MFest UK in 2018.

Halima Gosai Hussain (she/they)

Chair of Trustees

Halima Gosai Hussain is Chair of Trustees at IMI and a recent TEDx UCLWomen speaker. Her interest in feminist Quranic exegesis forces her to continually unlearn/relearn her Islam and question her relationship with those around here and especially those in power. Halima birthed Lyla Audre during the UK's first stay-at-home order in 2020, and is coming to terms with what being a 'parent in patriarchy' demands. Hipster turmeric lattes annoy her. She tweets @halimagosh.

Latifa Akay (she/her)

Trustee

Latifa has been part of the IMI community since 2015 and has been a trustee since 2016. She has a background in social justice work at a grassroots, policy and academic level, with a particular focus on racial and gender justice. Latifa works as Director of Education at the London based charity Maslaha. She has an academic background in law and studied Islamic law and Islamic feminist scholarship in an LLM in Human Rights at SOAS. Latifa has done a range of work around the intersection of gender, sexuality, race/ism and Islam. She is a regular media commentator and formerly worked as a journalist in Istanbul.

Sabah Choudrey (they/them)

Co-opted Board Member

Sabah has been working with LGBTQ youth for over six years and currently training to be a psychotherapist. They are a public speaker and writer on all things trans, brown and hairy, interested in the fluidity of sexuality, gender and faith and reclaiming Islam.

Daniel Abdul-Raheem Diaz (he/him)

Trustee

Raheem is a freelance access consultant, speaker and advocate, and is currently training in inclusive design. He has been involved in community organising for over 6 years, and fundraising within and outside of the third sector. Raheem is a revert with an interest in different Islamic spiritual traditions, and in the role pluralisms can have in building a truly unified ummah today. He is particularly passionate about disability justice and wealth redistribution as core Islamic values.