Women also led the service at Denmark's first female-run mosque, one of only a handful outside China.

The Guardian reported that more than 60 women attended the service at the mosque which was led by two imams: Sherin Khankan and Saliha Marie Fetteh.

Female imams have been present in China since the 19th century, they appeared in South Africa in 1995 and the Women's Mosque of America opened in Los Angeles last year.

Fetteh delivered the khutbah, or sermon, on the theme of "women and Islam in a modern world".

She drew laughter from worshippers when she joked that there was not a burkini to be found in shops across Europe, because they had all been bought by women showing solidarity with Muslims who had been victims of the ban in parts of France.

The mosque, which opened in February, has held five weddings including several interfaith marriages. However, this was the first time it had held Friday prayers.

Source

• The Telegraph
• Image: Huffington Post

Merissa Santoso has lived here for about five years. A keen swimmer, she sought to buy a burkini - modest women's swimwear covering the head and body - to wear in public.

However, she found they were not available in New Zealand. Read more

The ban on the Islamic burkini swimsuit on some French beaches has triggered disdain in English-speaking countries, where outlawing religion-oriented clothing is seen as hampering integration.

Newspaper commentators have condemned the ban as an absurdity, and one questioned how a burkini could be more offensive than "middle-aged bum crack" bursting out from traditional Western beachwear.

Some experts said the debate raised questions about the French one-size-fits-all model of integration.

In Britain, the full-face veil is not an uncommon sight in towns and city districts with big Muslim populations, but ostensibly does not stir as strong a reaction as in France.

One of the world's most secular countries, France strongly separates religion and public life. Defenders of the policy say a common arena without religious connotations helps avoid sectarian conflicts and encourages equality.

As a result, the burkini — like the burqa before it — has come under fire in France.

Some deem it a garment that channels radical Islam and oppresses women.

"It is the expression of a political project, a counter-society, based notably on the enslavement of women," French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said of the burkini last Wednesday.

Such views are widely contested in Britain, both on the grounds of tolerance and practicality.

Britain's best-known example of burkini-wearing was not by a Muslim but by TV chef Nigella Lawson, who hit the headlines in 2011 when she wore a black version of it on Bondi Beach in Sydney.

A BBC look at the issue found Muslim women in Britain speaking in favor of the burkini and saying it aided integration.

"The burkini allows me the freedom to swim and go on the beach, and I don't feel I am compromising my beliefs for that," Aysha Ziauddin told the broadcaster.

Source

• The Times of Israel
• Illawarra Mercury
• Image:metro.co.uk