Denise Mansingh Mohammed, a Muslim for over 25 years, says one of the main misconceptions about Muslim women is that they are subservient to their husbands, are uneducated and are not independent thinkers.
The mother of two said that was not the case, while admitting that many Muslim women accept such beliefs about themselves.
"We must learn to separate the culture from Islam. Educate yourselves and read about the women of Islam and you’ll see that they lead their own business. The Prophet (pbuh) worked for his first wife Khadijah. A'isha was schooled in Islamic jurisprudence and men and women would seek counsel from her. Use the wisdom you have to understand this beautiful faith and you’ll come to know yourself and understand your purpose even better."
Mohammed, 48, is a volunteer marriage counsellor with over 20 years experience. She lectures in counselling at the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jama'ah Institute and is affiliated with Maktabun Nisaa (Office for Women) and the National Islamic Counselling Services. She has a bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of the West Indies and an international master’s in business administration from the Institute of Business, now the Arthur Lok Jack Global School of Business.
She is also an avid kickboxer and is a member of the Bulldogs Kickboxing Club at the Tazmanian Bulldogs School of Martial Arts and Kickboxing in Freeport.
Her desire to do social work was born while accompanying her father, who was a chief probation officer, on site visits on Sunday mornings. As she was very young, she did not realise it was part of his job and thought her father was a special person to visit and try to help those who had less than him.
[caption id="attachment_888726" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Denise Mansingh Mohammed provides needy families with food hampers. Her desire to do social work was born while accompanying her father, who was a chief probation officer, on site visits. - ROGER JACOB[/caption]
“It stirred a compassion to love and help others and to serve country. I grew up with an aunt who was very active in politics and at a tender age I would hear the stories of the Black Power Movement and became passionate about Caribbean identity; having a lecturer as Lloyd Best just helped further that interest.”
So, she studied social work and, while at UWI, her roommate introduced her to Islam, and that continued through frequent visits to the family of the man who is now her husband, Rezan Mohammed.
“Living the Deen is something which is so uniquely different and brings a tenderness and compassion to one’s being," she said. (Living the Deen is the way of life Muslims must adopt to comply with divine law, encompassing beliefs, character and deeds.)
"I attended Holy Faith Convent and, at that time, Sr Magdalena was my friend, teacher and baptism instructor. One valuable lesson which she taught us all at the convent was that when choosing a spouse to be mindful of the way he treated his mother. This was something that had stuck with me to this day, (that) I
