As to Mohamed not wishing to separate the sexes, that’s debatable. For example, in one exchange Mohamed states that a woman is not to travel alone nor is a man to approach a lone woman. This exchange is often used as justification for not letting women drive cars nor work in professions that would put them in direct contact with non-related males. If this exchange is valid, then I think it’s reasonable to conclude that Mohamed wanted to separate the sexes in some manner for whatever reason.

Muhammad never forbade men and women to intermingle. In his day, women and men fought together on the battlefield, prayed together, mingled in the market together, etc. He only sequestered his own wives from contact with non-related males and had them cover their faces when they went out because they were being harrassed, which made things politically difficult for him. It was never intended to be extended to include all women, but became so later by an oppressive male regime.

For more details read my novel, A’ISHA, BELOVED OF MUHAMMAD, being published by Random House next year.

BTW, welcome to the Blogroll…