Deconstructing and reconstructing ‘Muslim women’ through women's narratives

Abstract

‘The plight of Muslim women’ periodically surfaces in the Indian media as well as in academic forums. These discussions often focus on the tropes of parda, polygamy and personal laws with ‘Muslim women’ often placed in the position of symbolic bearers of the identity of ‘the Muslim community’. This article explores the construction of ‘Muslim women in India’ outside of media and academic discourses, looking at the ways that women, who are identified as Muslim, themselves construct this category in their personal narratives. The analysis is based on discussions with women living in a majority-Muslim area of Delhi, Zakir Nagar. These discussions reveal competing constructions of ‘Muslim women’ in relation to parda and personal laws as well as in comparison with various groups including ‘Hindu women’, ‘the poor’, and ‘the uneducated’. ‘Muslim women’ is thus revealed as a category that has limited and differing resonance in the ways that women themselves represent their identities. The article calls for an exploration of women's identities outside of the over-determined category ‘Muslim women’, taking into account multiple and contingent identifications including religion but also including class, regional affiliation, age, migration history, status, etc.