Washington, USA - The largest Muslim organization in North America has elected its first female president - a watershed that the group says signals support for women leaders throughout their community.
Ingrid Mattson, a Canadian convert to Islam and an Islamic law scholar at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, was elected to lead the Islamic Society of North America just ahead of its annual convention, which starts Friday in Rosemont, Ill.
Formed in 1963, the organization is an umbrella group that represents Muslim associations for youth, college students, engineers and others, and also provides support to Muslim chaplains and North American mosques. Its annual meeting regularly draws more than 30,000 people.
The president serves a two-year term, leading the society's committees and executive boards that set policy through consultation with its members. Mattson's election was announced late Friday.
"It's a wonderful message to the Muslim community that Muslim women, who are sometimes seen as less, can rise to these positions," Sayyid Syeed, secretary general of the Islamic Society, said Monday.
American Muslims have struggled over the proper role for women, debating most recently how far mosques should go in separating men and women during worship and whether women should lead mixed-gender prayer in mosques. Still, women have had prominent roles outside of religious services, founding and leading some Islamic groups throughout North America.
The Islamic Society president is only rarely called upon to lead prayer, Syeed said.
Mattson could not immediately be reached for comment, but Syeed said she will only lead ritual worship for women. "That does not in any way limit her role as president," Syeed said.
Mattson, a married mother of two, earned a bachelor's degree in Canada from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, and a doctorate in Islamic studies from the University of Chicago.
She succeeds Sheik Muhammad Nur Abdullah, director for the Islamic Foundation of Greater St. Louis, as the Islamic Society president.