There are several advantages to the All-Female mosque visit. For a start, the mosque arranges for a woman to conduct the tour. It is not dominated by a self-conscious male imam. In my experience, women very quickly getting to chat very easily about all sorts of things when it is an all-woman environment. The first one I organised was led by two women in full hijab both aged about 30. After the tour of the mosque, one of the first questions was about arranged marriage. The two spoke freely and surprised the visitors because one was single with no imminent plans to marry.
How can such a thing be organised?
Some kind of personal connection is essential. In my case, I (a man) was friends with the imam. I asked him if he could arrange such a tour for us. He put me in touch with one of the young women who I think worked as a teacher and it developed from there.
If you have a Muslim friend, ask her for her advice. Explain that you want to observe to better understand. Even if she is not regular at the mosque she may be able to put you in touch with someone. She might of course invite you to something less formal. There are lots of devotional and teaching activities outside of the mosque.
Which mosques?
A large number of mosques in the UK do not have space for women. Those that do are often bigger and frankly more interesting. Although mosques are in theory all independent of each other and run by local people, there are associations. The Minhaj ul Quran network mosques ALWAYs have a women’s department run by a women’s committee. That is part of their distinctive model.
The main thing is to start with a personal connection. You tap into the guest-host dynamic. If you do not have such a connection yourself, ask around in your area who does have connections with the mosque.
These days there is quite a push to get Muslim more involved in running and representing the mosques in their community. Baroness Warsi is involved in one programme.[1] The Muslim Council of Britain is also taking steps.[2] Now might be a good time.
[1] https://religionmediacentre.org.uk/news/campaign-launched-to-open-british-mosques-to-women/
[2] https://mcb.org.uk/initiatives/women-in-mosques-development-programme/