sworn in as the latest member of the us supreme court at a special white house ceremony. president trump apologised on behalf of the american people for what he called the campaign of political and personal destruction based on lies and deception the judge had to endure. the second suspect in britain's nerve agent attack has been named as alexander mishkin, a military doctor working for russian intelligence. last month, the first suspect was named as colonel anatoliy chepiga. russian ex—spy sergei skripal and his daughter yulia were poisoned in march. hurricane michael is lashing cuba with strong winds and heavy rains, and is set to strengthen as it heads towards the united states. officials are warning residents along florida's gulf coast to prepare for "life threatening" storm surges. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to hardtalk.

i'm stephen sackur. almost two billion of the world's people are muslim, and yet half of them, the female half, have traditionally played little or no role in the institutions of theirfaith. that is changing, albeit very slowly. my guest today sherin khankan became scandinavia's first female imam when she opened the mariam mosque in copenhagen. her focus on women's rights in a 21st century brand of islamic practice has stirred controversy and debate far beyond denmark's borders. is islam ready to empower women? sherin khankan, welcome to hardtalk.

thank you. you are one of europe's very few female imams but you are also a writer, a social activist, what do you see as your most important role? actually i am not one of a few, there are actually quite a lot of female imams and round—the—world, also in europe, so it isa round—the—world, also in europe, so it is a myth that imams is a totally new phenomena and. how many? female imams in china since 1820, in the us, canada, in germany they have a very large community for female imams and in hamburg, and in berlin they have started a mosque with female imams, and in monster they

have also communities and also they started a centre for is money theology where in the future they are about to educate a generation of female imams. i take it that there are some. within the scope of this vast community of worldwide muslim is it is still an extraordinarily unusual thing to be. but ijust wonder whether for you it is the religious practice that is most important or the social activism that goes with it. it is both. actually the worshipping of god, it is only 10% of the work that we do in the mariam mosque because we have the friday prayer. but besides that 90% of our work is centred around human rights work. recently i have developed, together with a group of activists in denmark, a thesis on muslim reform based on islamic principles of justice muslim reform based on islamic principles ofjustice and these are of course the women's right to

service female imams, today it is too many muslims as something very rare and strange, and before we start of the mosque two years ago in denmark the majority of muslims in denmark the majority of muslims in denmark didn't even know that female imams was a possibility. wyatt? it is because we have normalised these patriarchal structures in religious institutions for decades —— why? patriarchal structures in religious institutions for decades -- why? so you see it as yourjob in the mariam mosque to espouse a sort of feminist version of islam, is that right?” do believe that we all should be feminist. feminism is about giving men and women equal opportunities. so, to me that is the fundamental everything. i do believe that in the mariam mosque we are fighting to challenge these patriarchal structures and we also want to give women the possibility of leading the prayer, disseminating new name —— narratives on islam in europe. and

would you accept that your faith in islam is far from would you accept that your faith in islam is farfrom being gender equal, is riven with misogyny? yes, u nfortu nately equal, is riven with misogyny? yes, unfortunately islam is being interpreted discriminatory and of course this affects women all over the world. and because of that we would like to give a rereading of the koran with a focus on gender equality. when you start a mosque with female imams you meet a lot of opposition and people get upset because you change the structure and then you change the power balance. so one of the questions that we often get, as many other women who are seeking to change the power balance is concerning women's rights, it is a question about legitimacy, from where do you get your legitimacy? 0ur legitimacy is based on knowledge, based on the needs in our society and based on islamic theology. let's tease that out a little bit and get to your background. many people watching and listening won't know your own background. it is fascinating. you

come from a mixed marriage. your father was muslim from syria who went into exile in scandinavia. your mother is finnish and christian so for you in many ways being brought up for you in many ways being brought up in scandinavia in a mixed marriage, choosing to be muslim is absolutely about that, it is about a choice you make. exactly. and i wonder why as a teenager you chose very deliberately to take the muslim faith. i took the choice as a late teenager when i was around 19. my journey started. i studied islam at the university. i went to syria. i did my thesis on suphism and islamic activism and when i was sitting at the mosque, with the grand mufti of syria, at the time in 1999, just before bashar al—assad took over power, i was wondering what would it be if the mufti was a woman, or if the imam was a woman. what would it

sound like, and could we change or challenge these patriarchal structures if we were disseminating new narratives on islam. so you talk about legitimacy. i don't know whether you are a fluent arabic speaker? i don't know how well versed in the koran you became as a young woman in your 20s. did you, like so many muslim scholars, go to the madras, the religious collies —— college, because a lot of people around the world will say to themselves, who is this woman? what does she really know about my religion? is theology, the koran, the hadith and everything else. religion? is theology, the koran, the hadith and everything elselj religion? is theology, the koran, the hadith and everything else. i am a theologist in islam and activism. in the middle east are studied arabic language, at copenhagen university, i studied arabic language, at copenhagen university, istudied in arabic language, at copenhagen university, i studied in egypt and ultimately in syria and damascus. sorry to interrupt, ijust ultimately in syria and damascus. sorry to interrupt, i just want... arabic language is very difficult

andi arabic language is very difficult and i am still on thatjourney. arabic language is very difficult and i am still on that journey. 0k. you talk about egypt. a wonderful example what do you think the revered islamic scholars of allah so university would make of your claims to redefine and on patriarchal non— misogynist islam ? to redefine and on patriarchal non— misogynist islam? as in any university there are mixed views. at the university concerning the concept of female imams you will find scholars say that female imams isa find scholars say that female imams is a possibility, it is legal. three out of four is the next course of oui’ out of four is the next course of ourfemale imams out of four is the next course of our female imams leading out of four is the next course of ourfemale imams leading to press for other women. so it's actually not that controversial even though they don't think it is a great idea they don't think it is a great idea they have to accept it —— prayers. they have to accept it because it was part of the islamic tradition. in the first house mosque in the islamic civilisation, the house mosque of the prophet muhammad in modena in 600, women were leading the prayer for other women modena in 600, women were leading the prayerfor other women in his own house mosque, that was aysha,

and after his death with led the prayerfor and after his death with led the prayer for other women and after his death with led the prayerfor other women in and after his death with led the prayer for other women in the mosque. there are also hadith stories, the written narratives of what we think the prophet said and did. so also truthful narratives about the prophet visiting the house ofa about the prophet visiting the house of a very famous woman called moraka, she was famous because of her way of recycling the koran and her way of recycling the koran and her knowledge of islam and he asked her knowledge of islam and he asked her to leave the prayer for his household. so we have at least three stories connecting women to leading the prayer and being female imams so it is not a new phenomenon. it is pa rt it is not a new phenomenon. it is part of our islamic tradition. and because of this the scholars at al—assar have to accept this as part of the tradition. you say they have to a cce pt of the tradition. you say they have to accept but it seems to me in all sorts of ways what you interpret as the right path for your religion varies a great deal from the accepted path that so many muslims around the world regard as the convention and the orthodoxy of

their religion. i am thinking of the interpretation of sharia law, with regard to divorce, property writes, all sorts of ways in which women appear to be treated as second—class to men. and this is what we want to change. we want to change the practice, the way sharia is being practised and manifested in our world today. today muslim women don't even have the basic right to islamic divorce. that is also one of the ninth thesis of reform that we are going to implement. sorry to interrupt again, but do you do divorces in a different way in the mariam mosque? yes, we give women the right to divorce in the islamic marriage contract, it is stated very clearly that muslim women have the right to divorce, polygamy is forbidden and if men allow physical violence to occur at the marriage is not. we implemented the women's right to divorce in the contract. but i'll muslim men in copenhagen signing up to this? unfortunately there are only two islamic

communities in denmark and we are one who give the women the right to divorce in the marriage contract and this is what we want to change. we wa nt to this is what we want to change. we want to standardise the practice where male imams implement the right to divorce in the contract and it is really crucial because today there are women all over the world who are trapped in violent marriages and they cannot even get the islamic divorce because the husband refuses. so we have to implement that right. you keep telling me we have to do this, we need to do that and i understand and i feel your passion, but the truth is it isn't gonna happen unless you take the bulk of the muslim community with you and before we get to the outside world, let's stick with denmark, i think i nearly 300,000 muslims in denmark, roughly 5% of the population. you in your mariam mosque which has garnered a huge amount of publicity, but it hasn't actually collected at huge number of members and followers. i mean you only have about 150 members of your

congregation. yes, but that is in denmark. that is my point. you are not drawing in the vast majority of danish muslims. actually it is not quite true because the effect of our work is more than these 150 members. we have implemented the woman's right to divorce, we are performing interfaith marriages, i will come back to that later. we have given women the possibility of leading the prayer, giving the hudba, disseminating messages on islam in europe, so sometimes we believe that it takes the masses to change a fundamental or to change our structure or to change the future but actually sometimes a small group of people are actually able to create change, and we had a visitor from indonesia, the grand imam from indonesia who represents 200,000 muslim devotees every friday they come for his friday prayer. he came to the mariam mosque, he blessed the

mosque and he said that female imams isa mosque and he said that female imams is a blessing and a necessity. so we have a lot of support inside denmark and also abroad. but to become a member you have to signup and you have to pay and you have to dedicate yourself. so you cannot really conclude anything from a specific number of members. well, i understand that you are saying that your reach goes far beyond the physical boundaries of copenhagen and your mosque's congregation and i also understand that by writing this book for example, women are the future of islam, you are sending the message that through the dissemination of the book is reaching an awful lot of people. but you are fighting against a sort of huge weight of muslim opinion, but not just huge weight of muslim opinion, but notjust opinion, but also frankly resources . notjust opinion, but also frankly resources. i am thinking for example of saudi arabia. yes. which invest billions and billions of dollars in mosque building, in madras, in

education, right across the muslim world, indeed in europe as well as pa rt world, indeed in europe as well as part of the rest of the world. it goes without saying that wahabbi, the saudi interpretation of islam, is1 million march yours, so how can you compete? it is not a matter of competition, it is a matter of establishing a solid alternative to wahabism, islamism, establishing this alternative. we are not here to delegitimise traditional groups or conservatives. we are here to create... conservatives. we are here to create. . . that conservatives. we are here to create... that is what you are doing, accusing them of misogyny, systematic discrimination. but the thing is how do you do it? how do you deliver your criticism? thing is how do you do it? how do you deliver your criticism ? i thing is how do you do it? how do you deliver your criticism? i always deliver my criticism in a very nuanced form and i think that is really crucial. and the thing is here that i am here to create an alternative, i am here that i am here to create an alternative, iam here

here that i am here to create an alternative, i am here to serve a new generation of muslims in denmark and abroad who have some acute needs when it comes to islam and how to practise islam in the 21st century. but you're talking about radical change within your face and within its systems and institutions. you can't achieve that frankly by a softly softly message saying you wa nt to softly softly message saying you want to be friends with the saudis. you will have to be revolutionary. want to be friends with the saudis. you will have to be revolutionarylj do you will have to be revolutionary.” do not want to be friends with the saudis. i was talking about the conservatives or the traditionalist because the majority of muslims in denmark are conservatives or traditionalist. do you agree with this, interesting words from the former state department envoy of resident 0bama to muslims around the world. at the end of her posting, she said this, after considering what she had seen in the muslims world. she said that saudi influenced the pernicious and pervasive. the us must stop

supporting extremist imams. you share that deep concern about the way in which saudi money is influencing the muslim world? i do share that concern and that is why i have established alternative. we wa nt to have established alternative. we want to disseminate new narratives on islam in europe and abroad and we are not only talking... this is about creating on the ground. and if we look at the change that we have made so far, let me give you an example. the necessity of interfaith marriages. today, muslim women cannot marry outside their face u nless cannot marry outside their face unless the man converts to islam, u nless unless the man converts to islam, unless you are a cultural slum and you do not practice islam. so this is an acute dilemma. we have couples coming from norway, sweden, denmark, france even the uk to get married in the marry mosque because we are able to serve them and we are rereading

the koran with a focus on gender equality at allowing them to marry non— muslims. in indonesia they change the law in 2017 so it is legally possible to marry outside islam in —— for a woman. it has a lwa ys islam in —— for a woman. it has always been a possibility for a mad because it is stated clearly that was one man can marry a non— muslims but the other side is not stated clearly. that it is also not stated that a woman cannot. so we use that as our legitimacy. but there are many people in denmark, politicians of the right and the far right, secular rest, those with a deep suspicion of islam in all its forms, who look at you and feel that you represent a danger because you appear to make islam more acceptable toa appear to make islam more acceptable to a danish mindset when, in fact, they say, many of your core attitudes are just as alien to danish values as the so—called islamists. it is a small minority

who are giving that statement. lets go through a view of those specific points. you claimed at beginning of the maryam experiment, the beginning of the experiment, you said you would have mixed press. but i did not back of. when you create a community, people come and theyjoin you. that is the power of democracy. the majority, they voted for a women's mosque on friday because they are looking to establish a magical sphere of women only where women could say what they want and express themselves. in the beginning i was sad about the decision. but i did not back up —— back of. i accepted it. you have to accept the majority. i had to make the conclusion because it conclusion is vital. when you want to create change you have to understand the

art of nourishing. if you burn bridges behind you, you can not a bridges behind you, you can not a bridge builder. i realised later that because we have a women's mosque only on friday and all other daysis mosque only on friday and all other days is for men, we have men coming from different countries to pray because we are centred in the middle of copenhagen as the only mosque. bites my point was that if you want to create change, it needs to be slow and wise and we can have a real revolution, such as interfaith marriage, giving women the right to divorce, we can do these things because we are on safe theological ground because nobody can criticise a. you aren't making interesting point and a. you aren't making interesting pointandi a. you aren't making interesting point and i need to pick the waste at them. your philosophy is fascinating. move slowly and do not burn bridges and in our way you change —— create change. when you stand on gay marriage? i imagine you would support the notion of gay

wedding yet you will not allow them in your mosque. why? personally i favour gay marriage but i am part of a mosque and we cannot carry all of the battles on our shoulders. if we we re the battles on our shoulders. if we were doing gay marriages at this stage... but what about your core principles? sometimes it is not a matter of core principles, it is a matter of core principles, it is a matter of core principles, it is a matter of understanding you are part ofa matter of understanding you are part of a greater movement. what we are doing in order to serve the women's cause is something greater and we cannot carry all the battles on our shoulders because we will lose our legitimacy within a second. this is such an interesting and difficult balancing act. locally there are other mosque communities around the world who do gay marriages and i am happy for them. so i hear from you that it happy for them. so i hear from you thatitis happy for them. so i hear from you that it is a delicate and sensitive balancing act. 0ne that it is a delicate and sensitive balancing act. one more example. a number of danish people who are your political opponents on the rise, they regard your stand after crisis over the cartoon in 2006, that

cartoon became a sort of litmus test in denmark for whether you were supportive of free speech, tolerance of opinion or whether, in the case of opinion or whether, in the case of many muslims in the country, you said that the offensiveness of that cartoon to you trumped all else. said that the offensiveness of that cartoon to you trumped all elsem seemed to many... no. you said. are not quoting you but this is your quotation. you said freedom of expression, in your view, quotation. you said freedom of expression, in yourview, must quotation. you said freedom of expression, in your view, must be used more delicately. you said where is the dialogue that the cartoonist is the dialogue that the cartoonist is claiming to establish? it sounded too many games as if you were defending the right of muslims in denmark not to be offended and were not defending the rights of the cartoonist. on the other hand i was nuance in the debate. i said that we had to understand that we are living ina had to understand that we are living in a globalised world. if you are

living in a globalised world you have to ask yourself what you want? do you want a dialogue with people? they said they wanted a dialogue with muslims in denmark. so few truly wish for a dialogue, you have two asked these essential question, what is important to you and why? and freedom of speech is an essential value to the majority of muslims in the world. in the sacredness of the koran is also an essential value to many muslims in the world. so we have a group of muslims who have different principles they value at the same time. my point is that we have too understand that we have people among us understand that we have people among us who have values that are essential to them at the same time. it is not a matter of favouring the sacredness of the koran over freedom of speech. it is a matter of understanding that if you want to enter a dialogue that, you have too

understand that people have different principles of what is valuable at the same time.” different principles of what is valuable at the same time. i do get the sense throughout this that you are trying to find a very fine lion to conduct your work. that you have written the book and it is all about how you want to see a feminist take within islam. i understand that. you say at the end in a searingly honest passage at the end that he comes at a price. it is not easy and we have to pay a price if we really want to fight for a principles and values. and you paid a personal price. it cost you your marriage. to a man you characterise as a good man but he was of pakistani danish origin and his view of his religion was different to yours. he felt that yourfight for different to yours. he felt that your fight for what you believed in was dangerous to your family and in the end it seemed it ruined your

marriage. was it worth it? yes, it was. i think that there are so many people who support the revolution and they want the changes. are they just do not want their daughter or their wife to be ahead of the revolution. and somebody has to lead the revolution. to me it was not a matter of choice, i did not make a choice. because i placed myself at the head of the revolution and it is impossible to withdraw when you have just begun it. but that has a cost that goes beyond you. your husband, children, your widerfamily. that goes beyond you. your husband, children, your wider family. that must be something that weighs heavy. of course it does. of course it does. and you are at peace with the decisions you have taken and the fight you are fighting?” decisions you have taken and the fight you are fighting? i am at peace and my children are proud of what i am doing and i have a family who is supportive. so i am at peace. thank you very much forjoining us.

thank you very much forjoining us. thank you. hello. there's some warmth and some sunshine in this forecast and one more day of rain for scotland and northern ireland. by the time it pulls away later on tuesday, through the early hours on wednesday, parts of the western highlands could well have seen around 200 millimetres — close to eight inches — from this one front that's been hanging around for a few days. still with us on tuesday and still bringing strong winds and outbreaks of rain into northern ireland and scotland, always heaviest the further north and west you are. slowly through the day, it will push northwards. there is something dry arriving arriving into northern ireland, southern and eastern scotland and increasing amounts of sunshine

across england and wales as the cloud through the morning thins and breaks. maybe a bit more cloud across the far north of england. anywhere northwards of wales will see the strongest of the winds on tuesday. this is an idea of the average speeds but the gusts, once again, will be touching a0 or 45 mph. lighter winds in the south and in the sunshine temperatures between 17 and 20. 15 and 16 for northern ireland and scotland. 11 for the far north of scotland. through tuesday evening and overnight, our band of cloud and rain continues to work its way northwards so for much of the uk, as we start wednesday morning, it will be dry with clear skies, the odd patch of mist and fog and a mild start to wednesday. temperatures between 7 and 12 as the overnight low. the warmer air continues to push its way up across the uk through wednesday and you will see temperatures rising. the warmest day of the week. 0ur front finally clears away from the far north—west of scotland, just some cloud and patchy rain

first thing in the morning before it finally moves away and for much of the uk, it is a fine day. plenty of sunshine. a fairly noticeable south—easterly breeze later in the day. some hazy skies across southern england, perhaps some showers through the evening. to give you an idea of the temperature, you can see warmer area extending right across the uk and we will see temperatures widely in the low 20s celsius on wednesday, even up into scotland. parts of east anglia and south—east england could see temperatures up around 2a celcius. by thursday, it is more unsettled. bands of showers, longer spells of rain, working their way up, particularly in the west. further east, at this stage, dry and still holding some warmth. 20 or 21 celsius. a cooler feel further west. as we go through friday, keep an eye on this because we could see some very wet and windy weather, gales are likely across much the uk, very unsettled by the end the week. welcome to bbc news, broadcasting to viewers

in north america and around the globe. my name is duncan golestani. our top stories: after weeks of division, justice brett kavanaugh is sworn in as the latest member of the us supreme court at a special white house ceremony. the senate confirmation process was contentious and emotional. that process is over. my focus now is to be the bestjustice i can be. the second suspect in britain's nerve agent attack is named as alexander mishkin, a military doctor working for russian intelligence. faces of hope on syria's front line — we meet the families trying to reclaim their lives after seven years of war. hurricane michael lashes cuba — it's set to strengthen as it heads