A Safe Space for Muslim Women in Minnesota’s Rochester
As a high school student, Subban Hassan moved from Somalia to Minnesota.
"I didn't have my parents with me," Hassan said, describing her experience eight years ago. "The first place that actually helped me was sisterhood at the mosque."
She had a safe place to strengthen her faith, have people understand her experiences and ask people for help. Along with a group of sisters she met through the mosque, Hassan formed the Suhba Sisterhood as an extension of those sisterly relationships. She let the idea inspire her again at the end of 2022 and reached out to her sisters to join the board.
The board of eight women largely grew up in Rochester and ventured into college education and careers without the guidance of family members. By focusing on Islamic education, mental and physical health, and school and career mentorship, the Suhba Sisterhood hopes to support the next generation of Muslim sisters. Director of community outreach assistant Nasra Arte and director of marketing Ayan Mohamoud Bedri said supporting another sister means having a friend you can turn to on any topic.
"We didn't have any guidance. We didn't have any people that are going to tell us, 'Hey, maybe look into this field, look into this classes that you can do ahead,'" Hassan said of many of the sisters' college experiences. She is the executive director of the Suhba Sisterhood. "We wanted to use our experience to guide younger sisters."
A smaller group of women gathered for knowledge circles at one of the Rochester mosques starting in 2018. Otherwise, they traveled to Minneapolis for conferences and opportunities to gather as Muslim sisters.
"We had to drive approximately two hours there just to go get the knowledge that we needed or the sisterhood that we needed," Hassan said. "Then we thought of having that space in our own hometown, instead of maybe making our younger generation go through the same experiences that we did."
As an all-women group, they now have opportunities not otherwise available when spaces include men and women intermingling. Muslim women and men are limited in their interactions together. Arte said it "(gives) us sisters a place where we can be ourselves and explore different things in our community."
The board members said that one of the "biggest" struggles is an all-female space to work out and go swimming. The limited locations available require extra fees and separate times. Muslim women observe modesty, such as not displaying their beauty to males, by wearing a hijab and outer coverings, Hassan said.
The group trained in a private area at 125 Live, including a boxing class, where "everybody felt comfortable enough to even some of us didn't even wear the hijab at that time," Hassan said.
"There is so much emphasis on maintaining how we look, our body. Although majority of our appearance and older generations, they're like, 'Ope, you're wearing the hijab nobody sees you,'" Hassan said. "But that comes with you risking not even physical look but even with your health there is increased chances of obesity, increased chances of you getting diabetes, hypertension and all of that."
As a part of the sisterhood community, Hassan said they're addressing the Islamic teaching based on the idea that if one part of the body of Muslim sisters and brothers is hurting then the whole body is in pain. The knowledge circles first welcomed Arte to the group, and now she's grateful for all the times Hassan has offered her advice.
"We want to be there for everyone, whether they are struggling through education, whether it is mental health ... and also with our physical health," Hassan said.
Women of all faith communities can join the events. "Our doors are open," Hassan noted. Over the summer, the sisterhood has sunset hikes on Sundays and bi-weekly Islamic circles on Fridays. A calendar of events is available on the Suhba Sisterhood website.
They plan to offer Umrah trips, a religious pilgrimage of traveling to Mecca, Saudia Arabia, as a worship act, in the coming years. Camping and nature retreats are also in the plans.
"A lot of the outdoorsy things, we do we do it as a group of girls, it just brings us all closer to each other, even though we don't know each other that well outside of the circle. We're just so close whenever we're together," Arte said.
Whether walking on trails, working out in kickbox classes or gathering to learn, the Suhba Sisterhood is open as a safe space.
"When you come in that circle everyone there is your friend ... during your lowest times you have people to turn back to," Arte said.
Source: news.yahoo.com
