The new Women’s Mosque of America opened on Friday in downtown Los Angeles as over 100 women met for its inaugural prayer. The place of worship, launched by Muslim women Hasna Maznavi and Sana Muttalib, is the first of its kind in the U.S.

When entering a mosque, women traditionally have to enter through a side door or sit in the back, and are often separated from the men by a partition or other physical barrier. Maznavi, a 29-year-old comedy writer, said she began to feel “unwelcome” when she had to deal with such practices every time she went to pray at her Southern California mosque. She and Muttalib, a 31-year-old lawyer, eventually decided to rectify the effects of the separation, which extend beyond just a physical presence.

At the heart of the Women’s Mosque of America is the belief that Muslim women across the country should be able to take on stronger leadership roles and to delve deeper into their scholarly heritage. The opening sermon was given by Edina Lekovic, a 37-year-old Muslim activist from Pasadena. “This is a hugely important, symbolic moment,” she said. “It’s American Muslim women organizing and creating a space for their own spiritual nourishment by and for themselves.”

Many of the younger generation of American-born Muslims have expressed a wish to create less-traditional religious spaces. A shortage of trained imams has often led to members of the lay community leading prayers and giving sermons, and sometimes this has opened an opportunity for Muslim women to lead prayers for other women in smaller, more informal groups. However, having women take over the Friday prayers, which is the main service of the week, is a big step towards change. According to study released in 2013 from the Islamic Society of North America, the average of attendance of women at traditional U.S. mosques hovers around just 18 percent of total attendees.

Muslim scholars have offered a reserved support of the new mosque. Jihad Turk – an imam and president of Bayan Claremont, the Islamic graduate school at Claremont School of Theology in Southern California – has pointed out that precedents of female scholars and teachers exist in Muslim history, notably the Prophet Muhammad’s wife. Muslim American scholar Furhan Zubairi has said there is “nothing wrong with having a Women’s Mosque,” adding that women should have “spaces where they feel safe, welcomed and respected.” However, he disagrees with Turk, worrying that “this is something that has no precedent in history or tradition.”

While Muslim conservatives battle concerns on how this might affect “the face of the established community,” others hope that the new mosque will bring awareness to the entrenched issues of women’s worship conditions. Its founders hope that the Women’s Mosque will “complement” worshippers’ home mosques, rather than replacing them.