"Sister President"
By: Dr. Mohja Kahf
You May Call Her "Sister President"
We met for breakfast by the bay in Panama City, Florida. The sea was
glorifying Allah in frothy eddies. "How did you get to be president of
the Islamic center in this small, mostly conservative community?"
I asked Mrs. Iman Elkadi (nee Abu Saud). "We wanted a woman on
the board," she said."Just as a board member. It never occurred to
me that I would be president." She opened a honey packet.
"Who's "we"? I asked, tearing into my eggs and hash browns.
She began to tick off the women who supported the move to make
new positions for women on the Board of the Bay County Islamic Center.
Then she stopped and said, "You know, I don't think there were any
women who did not want a woman on the board. And a lot of the men
were supportive, too."
The women realized that without a woman participating directly in
Board meetings, they would continued to be uninformed and out of the
loop of decision-making on issues important to the whole
community, and not least to themselves as women. The women's struggle
for involvement and representation began during 1988.
To get new Board positions created for women, there had to be
an amendment to the Constitution of the Center, and it had to be
voted in by the general membership. When it came time to vote, someone
actually raised the question of whether women could even take part
in the voting. After a vigorous discussion, the General Assembly
decided that family membership did in fact entitle both the
husband and the wife to individual votes. Then the Assembly, rather
than create new positions specifically for women, agreed
that women could run for existing board seats.
"If they won, they won, and if they lost, they lost -- just
like anyone else," Mrs. Elkadi said. She took a sip
of traditional medicinal tea, which caught the waitress' eye.
They began a long discussion about medicinal teas.
Outside, the wind blew the sea into grey swirls.
Not one but two women, the other being Mrs. Belinda Shaaban, won
enough votes to be on the five-seat committee that year, 1994. Mrs.
Elkadi garnered the most votes of all the candidates, male or
female. "No one expected a woman to get the most votes," she said with
a smile. "It never even occurred to me that I would become
president." The By-laws provide that whichever committee member gets the most
votes becomes president, so Mrs. Elkadi became the first woman president
of the Panama City Islamic Center, and, I believe, of any Islamic center
in the U.S. and Canada. Following that, she served as Treasurer in 1995.
She declined to run for a position this year. "I don't know why anybody
would want to hang on to that power," she said, finishing off her plate.
"It's a huge burden of responsibilities."
What did the presence of women on the Board accomplish ?
"I think it had a civilizing effect," Mrs. Elkadi said drily.
"People had to behave better during Board meetings."
She had the additional advantage of being the oldest Board member.
"Add helps," she noted.
One of the achievements of Mrs. Elkadi's tenure was the
proceduralization of the decision-making process, which had been
more personalized and informal. "The men used to have board meetings
in each other's homes, which automatically excludes people.
We stopped that. Board meetings were held in the mosque at the same
time each month. Meeting notices were posted. They were open -- anyone
could attend." Minutes of meetings were kept in good order and available
for perusal. Membership policies were regularized and frequent
users of the mosque facilities encouraged to register as members.
Keys to the mosque -- touchy items in some communities -- were
made available to any member upon payment of dues.
Was there any opposition to a woman taking leadership of the
Islamic center? "A few men phoned my husband and said this was
unIslamic and so forth. What they didn't understand was that being
president of a center is simply an administrative job. It has
nothing necessarily to do with being imam. Then there were a few
women who were scandalized. They said, 'astaghfirullah.' But," she
added, "I don't think we should disparage the traditionalists.
They are merely responding based on what they know. "
The Shura Council of ISNA (Islamic Society of North America)
officially accepts that women can be presidents and leaders of
Islamic organizations, and several young women have served as president
of MYNA (Muslim Youth of North America).
Of Egyptian origin, Mrs. Elkadi has raised four daughters in the
United States with her husband, Dr. Ahmed Elkadi. The four are grown and Mrs.
Elkadi is now raising two grandsons as well, part of the reason why
she decided not to take part in committee work this year.
We left the restaurant, our headscarves flapping in the Florida gale.
"I don't think of myself as a woman," Mrs Elkadi said. Noticing the
surprised expression on my face, she added "I think of myself as a human being.
What's important is what we do."
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