The Sakirin Mosque in Istanbul is the first ever in Turkey to be designed by a woman.  Award winning interior designer Zeynep Fadillioglu oversaw the design and construction of the mosque (seen left in photo from Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Flickr photostream) which opened for prayers last Friday.  Fadillioglu, who had previously made a name for herself working on the interior design of swanky homes and hotels, made her first foray into the realm of religion with this project.

Turkey is generally considered to be one of the more secular Islamic nations, however women’s rights are still a work in progress.  Case in point, as is the case in mosques around the world, men and women worship separately - with men on the main floor and women on a usually smaller, more cramped upper level that’s decidedly frumpier than the men’s.  But the Sakirin Mosque makes an attempt to bring some separate but equal treatment to the gender separation by giving the women’s level the same size and sophistication as the men’s.  Small steps to be sure, but important ones for the future of women in the Islamic world.  LINKS:

Deutsche Welle: A Turkish first: feminine touch to new modern mosque

Fast Company: A Quiet Coup: Turkey’s First Mosque Designed by a Woman

Earth Times: Turkey’s first woman-designed mosque opens in Istanbul