London: Women’s footprints in da’awah

We walked together for about four minutes to the Aldgate Academy on Silchester Road, which was the venue of the event. I was invited to the Congress by FOMWAUK which was established by a group of Muslim women in London in 2013. They were inspired by the achievements of the Federation of Muslim Women in […]

We walked together for about four minutes to the Aldgate Academy on Silchester Road, which was the venue of the event. I was invited to the Congress by FOMWAUK which was established by a group of Muslim women in London in 2013. They were inspired by the achievements of the Federation of Muslim Women in Nigeria (FOMWAN), and decided to also establish an umbrella body for Muslim Women in the UK. The organization was launched at a mosque in East London with two FOMWAN Amirahs Hajiya Maryam Othman and Hajiya Amina Omoti in attendance.
The context in which FOMWAN was established bears some similarities what exists in the UK. Around 1980, some educated Muslim women started discussing the need to establish a national Islamic organization for women.  It was observed that there were educated Muslim women in various parts of Nigeria who wanted to increase their knowledge and practice of Islam. Some had already formed Islamic study groups. Some had organized classes for uneducated women, and some had established nursery and primary schools. Some also wanted to serve Islam but were not in touch with others of like mind. Most of these organized groups operated entirely in isolation, not knowing of each other’s existence. Therefore there was no mutual encouragement and no exchange of ideas, programs or information. There was therefore need for a central focus to link all these groups and to help establish new groups in areas where there were none.
Another serious need was for a body, which could express the views of Muslim women at National and state levels. Many women societies already existed in the country mostly aiming at social progress for women, and some Muslim women joined such societies. However, in most cases they were dominated by non-Muslims who were not interested in an Islamic approach to social problems and current issues.
At national and international levels such societies would even claim to be speaking for all Nigerian women, while the ideas they put forward were often contrary to the teachings of the Qur’an and Sunnah, and therefore not acceptable to Muslims. It was therefore felt necessary to establish an independent platform from which Muslim women could express a specifically Islamic view of the problems of women and of the society in general.
Lastly it was felt that certain problems affecting Muslim women in particular, such as that of female education and the fulfilment of women’s rights as guaranteed under the Shari’ah, could only be effectively tackled by the initiative of Muslim women, in co-operation with their male counterparts. This is because the problems of a Muslim community must be cured by Islamic solutions that will be acceptable to conscientious Muslims at all levels of society.  With all these needs in mind, the women concerned met in April 1985 in Kano and agreed to call a conference to establish the organization, which was done in October 1985 in Minna.
The mission of FOMWAN is to propagate the religion of Islam in Nigeria through da’awah, establishment of educational institutions and other outreach activities. And to improve the socio-economic status of the populace especially women, youth and children through training, provision of qualitative education, health and humanitarian services, micro enterprise scheme and advocacy. 
FOMWAUK is modelled after its Nigerian counterpart as a federation of various groups and individuals as a da’awah and charitable organisation managed by volunteers. Most of them are professionals with admirable expertise and skills to share. Its aim is to provide support and guidance for the families in the Tarbiyyah (upbringing of children and effective parenting), providing guidance on religious, social and family needs. Of particular interest to the women is the welfare and support for the young and vulnerable members of the community. By coming together, the FOMWAUK members can establish networking and partnership with like minded members from various group community organisations and professional bodies to share knowledge create awareness and support a shared vision of religious advancement and development for their communities. FOMWAUK has also inspired a group of Muslim Women in Ireland who attended the Congress and plan to establish a similar body in future.
The theme of this year’s Congress was “Our Girls, Our Daughters: Prospects for Today and Tomorrow.’ It was designed as a day for sharing experiences and knowledge with an array of topic speakers and topics
Two amiable ladies, Hajiya Azeezat Balogun and Sister Kafayat Eletu presided over the events and set the stage for the congress. There were recitations from the Quran and introduction of special guests. The Amirah, FOMWAUK, Hajiya Sherifat Abdulkadir welcomed all participants. Dr Munirat Ogunlayi presented an Islamic perspective of sexuality education. The paper focused on the girl child, body changes, growing up, making decisions, goal setting and career development.
There was a symposium on the Practicality of Worship and the speakers discussed different components. Sister Fauziyya Amao: “ Seeking for Knowledge’ as a compulsory aspect of worship, Sister Lateefat Dabiri discussed ‘’Purifying the Soul with Zikri, Istigfar and Worship”
Sister Aminat Shote’s presentation focused on Purifying your Body through” Ablution and Ghusl”, while Sister Mahmudat Sanni-Oba discussed Expressing Gratitude to Allah and Spreading His words. My presentation focused on Coping with life’s challenges in development as a girl. It highlighted the insecurity that has led to abduction of women and girls in Nigeria and strategies for addressing this new dimension of violence on women. There was a Quran Workshop facilitated by Sister Aminat Jalloh and Sister Khafilah Iyiola while the Networking and Engagement with Women’s groups was presented by Hajiya Bilkisu Savage and Sister Hidayyah Muhammad.
A separate event was organi-sed for the children Where Sister Hikmat Adewuyi discussed morals and cleanliness. Watching the articulate young ladies taking charge, one felt fulfilled that FOMWAN has made some impact not only across West Africa from Ghana, Gambia to Sierra Leone and Liberia where it has chapters but it is now uniting Muslim women beyond Africa.