As a Muslim woman who has not yet performed Haj and Umrah but hopes to do so soon, I must make my views heard. I embraced Islam years ago because — among other things — I found a religion in which women were respected as full human beings and expected to participate in worship, seeking the pleasure of Allah alone.

This verse of the Qur’an says it all: “Lo! Men who surrender unto Allah, and women who surrender, and men who believe and women who believe, and men who obey and women who obey, and men who speak the truth and women who speak the truth, and men who persevere in righteousness and women who persevere in righteousness, and men who are humble and women who are humble, and men who give alms and women who give alms, and men who fast and women who fast, and men who guard their modesty and women who guard (their modesty), and men who remember Allah much and women who remember — Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a vast reward.” (Al-Ahzab 33:35)

The news of the proposal to enlarge the women’s prayer areas that are further away from the Kaaba is welcome — we definitely need more space in order to keep separate from male worshippers and to avoid body contact with them whenever possible. However, the proposal to remove the women’s prayer area that is closest to the Kaaba is extremely upsetting. Women are already confined to very small areas within the Haram.

I urge the committee members who made these proposals to seriously consider the implications and the impact of what they have proposed. By removing the barriers that reserve the prayer section for women in front of the Kaaba, you will effectively be banning women from praying there at all. How could they even hope to get close to the Kaaba, to try to touch it or the Black Stone, to pray at Ibrahim’s Station, when, in order to do so, they would have to break through the ranks of men who are praying and performing tawaf?

Women will no longer feel that they are welcome or even allowed to approach the Kaaba. This will be terribly discouraging for female worshippers, and believe me, no Muslim will benefit from this. Just the proposal itself, even if it is never implemented, sends a message to Muslim women the world over that they are simply a nuisance to male worshippers and not welcome in the Haram at all.

If women are to participate fully in the rituals within the House of Allah, they must be shown that they are wanted there, and this will not be done by shifting them out of the way.

I welcome the idea put forth by Hassan Misfar of the International Fiqh Academy that special areas for women to perform tawaf should be allocated. This, in addition to increasing the amount of space allotted to women to pray separate from men, would go a long way to signaling to Muslim women that they matter and that their needs are being taken into consideration.

Yes, the problem of overcrowding during Haj, Ramadan, and other peak times is a difficult one — for both pilgrims and the authorities. But is the slight advantage in ease of movement that would be gained (for men) by removing female worshippers from the immediate vicinity of the Kaaba worth the great disadvantage that it poses for women?

Surely the problem could be alleviated by other means. It has been suggested that the number of pilgrims could be limited, and priority given to those who have never before performed Haj or Umrah. The rules would be different for people living in the Kingdom, but certainly some restrictions could be applied there, too.

I have confidence that the combined knowledge and experience of the people in charge of the Haram and Haj affairs will prove sufficient for them to come up with a solution that does not involve cutting women out of worshipping in Allah’s House.

(Jamila Hakam is an American Muslim. She is the co-author of “How Can I Get Closer to Allah?” published by Islamic Inc. for Publishing & Distribution, Cairo.)