When Hind Makki leads workshops on inclusive mosques, she asks attendees what they do when they're praying at the mosque and something goes wrong.
What happens, for example, when the imam's mic inevitably suddenly stops working?
For men, the answer is usually simple. The imam speaks a bit louder, and those who still can't hear the imam take their cues on when to stand, bend and bow from the row in front of them.
"But for the women, they're like, 'It's pandemonium,'" said Makki, a Chicago-based interfaith educator, "because they're usually in a different hall or a different space. They can't see the imam, so they don't know what to do when they can't hear him anymore either."
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