Muslim Women Research Articles

In-between borders: mapping belonging and citizenship in the Bengal Borderland

ABSTRACT Recent academic discourses highlight borders as dynamic forces influencing life beyond territorial demarcations. This paper examines belonging and citizenship by looking at the case of Bengali-speaking Muslim women who married across the India-Bangladesh border. Initially, clandestine visits helped to sustain kinship ties, but increasing border enforcement and emphasis on documentation have resulted in regulated journeys with the help of passports. Building on the politics of belonging and translocational positionality framework, this paper emphasises the fluidity of their belonging, reflecting the border’s nature, and addresses the ambivalence in navigating citizenship and belonging. Ethnographically looking at West Bengal’s border villages, the paper analyses how the sense of belonging in a borderland is complex, ambivalent and shaped by personal experiences and not solely contingent upon the possession of legal-bureaucratic documentation. This study enriches discourses on borders and belonging by looking at the layers of negotiation in borderlands, challenging straightforward notions of belonging.

Leila Aboulela, Islam, and the trajectory of the African novel

ABSTRACT This article focuses upon Leila Aboulela’s Minaret, arguing that – in the context of the ambivalent relations between Islam and the west – it challenges stereotypes about Muslim African women, excavating Sufi traditions to challenge monolithic western understandings of Islam and Muslim women. The article’s intent is to develop the narrative about the African novel by bringing Aboulela into the debate because she offers an alternative narrative, one which refuses to fetishize difference, instead embracing cultural diversity and normative pluralism. The protagonist is a Sudanese Muslim woman who draws inspiration from indigenous cultures; she positions herself within the Sufi tradition, which challenges both patriarchal and imperialist understandings of Islam, thus finding her place in a secular society that views both Islam and Muslim women as aberrant. Acutely aware of the complexities of colonialism and religion, Aboulela shifts the African novel towards a subtle engagement with urgent questions around gender and Islam.

Exploring the role of TikTok for intersectionality marginalized groups: the case of Muslim female content creators in Germany

IntroductionSocial media has become a central part of everyday life, providing spaces for communication, self-expression, and social mobilization. TikTok, specifically, has emerged as a prominent platform for marginalized groups, providing opportunities for activism and representation. However, research falls short in examining the specific role of TikTok for Muslim women in Germany who face intersecting forms of marginalization. This shortcoming reflects a broader lack of research on the experiences of marginalized groups within TikTok’s logics and affordances, and what functions the platform fulfills for these communities. Against this backdrop, this study examines TikTok’s role as a platform for Muslim female content creators in Germany and its broader implications for marginalized communities. Our research is guided by the following questions: (a) What are the main themes and topics that are being brought forward by Muslim women content creators on TikTok? (b) What technical affordances do they use to communicate their content? (c) What functions does TikTok fulfill for Muslim women as an intersectionally marginalized group?.MethodsWe analyze 320 videos from 32 public TikTok accounts identified through snowball sampling. Data collection includes automated web scraping, manual transcription, and qualitative coding. This allows us to identify main topics, video formats, and content types to answer our research questions.ResultsOur findings show that Muslim women produce diverse content on TikTok, ranging from beauty and lifestyle to religious education and social justice. They shape the platform’s functionalities through creative use, while TikTok’s algorithm and virality logic drive creators to blend entertainment with personal content. The hijab emerges as a unique issue, framed within both political and fashion discourses. Overall, TikTok functions as a “third space” where Muslim women challenge mainstream stereotypes and offer alternative interpretations of their identity. While TikTok provides empowerment and visibility, it also exposes Muslim women to hate speech and harassment. The platform provides tools to counter these issues, but the underlying social hierarchies often limit their visibility, making TikTok both a site of empowerment and vulnerability.DiscussionThis study highlights the need for further research into the role of social media for marginalized groups, particularly across platforms, gender, and religion.

Contraceptive Intention, Religious Attitudes and Sources of Spirituality in Married Muslim Women: A Descriptive Correlational Study in Türkiye.

This study was carried out to reveal the relationship between contraceptive intents, religious attitudes, and spiritual resources of married Muslim women. The study was conducted using a descriptive-correlational design. The study was conducted with 273 participants between July and November 2023. To collect data, the Personal Information Form, Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale, Ok-Religious Attitude Scale, and Contraceptive Intent Questionnaire were used. The data were evaluated using Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests. No significant relationship was found between the total and sub-scales of the Contraceptive Intent Questionnaire, Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale, and Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (p>0.05). A positive and high correlation was detected between the total, emotion, relationship, and behavior sub-scales of the Trait Sources of Spirituality Scale and Ok-Religious Attitude Scale (p<0.05). The contraceptive intent levels of women were found to be associated with some of their socio-demographic and obstetric variables (age, previous delivery method, sex of existing children, and contraceptive method used). The only variable that showed a significant relationship with all three scales was found to be the sex of the existing children of women. Some socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics of married Muslim women are related to the sex of the child they have, their contraceptive intents, spiritual resources, and religious attitudes. In contraceptive counseling services provided to Muslim women, their religious attitudes and spiritual resources should be taken into consideration.

“I Would Have Given them a Piece of my Mind”: Spatialized Feelings and Emotion Work Among Racialized Muslim Women in Québec

The 2013 Charter of Values in Québec proposed to ban “ostentatious” religious symbols in the public sphere; while ostensibly neutral, such bans harm women who identify as Muslim, hurting their sense of belonging. This article examines the emotional experiences of Canadian Muslim women and the emotion work they do to manage non-Muslims’ impressions of them in a context of rampant Islamophobia. To understand their experiences, I develop a concept called spatialized feelings—how emotions, relationally accomplished in intersectional hierarchies, are contingent on the spaces social actors occupy. My interviews and participant observation of Muslim women in Québec revealed that their feelings about self and belonging were spatialized. In spaces dominated by whiteness (work, school, in public), my participants felt different, due to experiences of exclusion. In spaces with other Muslims, participants felt connected, but belonging was complicated by intersectional identities. Although their engagement in emotion work indicated agency, emotion work reproduced raced and gendered bodies and spaces. With exclusionary politics on the rise across the Atlantic, targeted minorities will increasingly experience racialization in gendered ways in public spaces; spatialized feelings are at the core of understanding the consequences of these politics for belonging and emotion work.

A review essay on gender, justice and Muslim women movements in Turkey: theories, sources, and identities

A review essay on gender, justice and Muslim women movements in Turkey: theories, sources, and identities

E-Economic Transactions among Muslim Women in Contemporary Northern Nigeria

The emergence of digital technology and e-commerce has provided uncountable access of wealth and novel economic prospects to women worldwide, particularly Muslim women residing in Northern Nigeria. This study investigates the ways in which Muslim women engage in e-commerce within an area that has historically been influenced by conventional conservative religious and cultural standards. Through an analysis of their participation in virtual enterprises, the research underscores the distinct socio-cultural and religious elements impacting their e-commerce endeavors. It also discusses the difficulties they have, like their lack of access to technology, low levels of digital literacy, and financial marginalization. The study uses secondary data from government papers, academic literature, and case studies as part of a qualitative research technique. Women who were involved in e-commerce were interviewed, and data from previous surveys was examined to offer insights into the trends of participation and the barriers faced. The results indicate that although e-commerce presents a great opportunity for economic empowerment, a number of obstacles prevent full engagement. These include the necessity for financial products that comply with Sharia law, societal expectations, and infrastructure constraints. The article ends with suggestions for boosting the participation of Muslim women in the digital economy, with an emphasis on advancing financial services that adhere to Sharia law, increasing digital literacy, and increasing access to technology. These tactics may encourage Muslim women to become more financially independent, which would boost the region's economy in Northern Nigeria. Abstrak: Munculnya teknologi digital dan e-commerce telah memberikan akses kekayaan dan prospek ekonomi baru yang tak terhitung jumlahnya bagi perempuan di seluruh dunia, terutama perempuan Muslim yang tinggal di Nigeria Utara. Studi ini menyelidiki cara-cara di mana wanita Muslim terlibat dalam e-commerce dalam area yang secara historis dipengaruhi oleh standar agama dan budaya konservatif konvensional. Melalui analisis partisipasi mereka dalam perusahaan virtual, penelitian ini menggarisbawahi elemen sosial-budaya dan agama yang berbeda yang memengaruhi upaya e-commerce mereka. Ini juga membahas kesulitan yang mereka hadapi, seperti kurangnya akses ke teknologi, tingkat literasi digital yang rendah, dan marginalisasi keuangan. Studi ini menggunakan data sekunder dari makalah pemerintah, literatur akademik, dan studi kasus sebagai bagian dari teknik penelitian kualitatif. Wanita yang terlibat dalam e-commerce diwawancarai, dan data dari survei sebelumnya diperiksa untuk menawarkan wawasan tentang tren partisipasi dan hambatan yang dihadapi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa meskipun e-commerce menghadirkan peluang besar untuk pemberdayaan ekonomi, sejumlah hambatan menghalangi keterlibatan penuh. Ini termasuk perlunya produk keuangan yang sesuai dengan hukum Syariah, harapan masyarakat, dan kendala infrastruktur. Artikel diakhiri dengan saran untuk meningkatkan partisipasi perempuan Muslim dalam ekonomi digital, dengan penekanan pada memajukan layanan keuangan yang menganut hukum Syariah, meningkatkan literasi digital, dan meningkatkan akses ke teknologi. Taktik ini dapat mendorong wanita Muslim untuk menjadi lebih mandiri secara finansial, yang akan meningkatkan ekonomi kawasan di Nigeria Utara. Kata Kunci: Transaksi E-Ekonomi; Wanita Muslim; Nigeria Utara

In Their Own Words: Muslim Women Reconstruct the Sexual Script

Using semi-structured, qualitative interviews of 25 heterosexual Muslim women residing in the US, the author examines the extent to which respondents simultaneously constructed and deconstructed the gender dichotomy when explaining sexuality, countering reductionist accounts of Muslim women’s sexuality. Integrating concepts of religiosity and gender norms, respondents reconfigured the dominant discourse of power and sexuality in innovative ways. One of the main themes that emerged from this research is that male sex drive discourse, typically associated with power and “machismo” within the traditional sexual script, was reimagined by Muslim women as an indicator of women’s greater strength in the eyes of God.

Understanding body dissatisfaction and preferences among Palestinian-Arab Women in Israel: Westernization and culturally bound factor

Body dissatisfaction, a risk factor for eating disorders, is documented among women in various cultural settings. We focus on prediction of body dissatisfaction among Muslim- Arab women in Israel. Two studies were conducted. Study 1 examined the effect of exposure to cultural cues on body preferences through priming and its interaction with acculturation attitudes. Muslim-Arab female students (N = 113) were randomized to one of two cultural priming conditions (Western vs. Arab) and filled out an acculturation attitudes scale. As expected, women exposed to Western cultural cues preferred thinner figures compared to women exposed to Arab cultural cues. Under Western acculturation attitudes these effects were stronger. Study 2 focused on two culturally bound factors, maturity fear and selflessness, as predictors of body dissatisfaction in two groups. Cultural values were included to investigate the predicting ability of Western and non-Western values. 163 Muslim and 128 Jewish female university students filled out questionnaires. Body dissatisfaction measures were predicted by cultural group, cultural values, maturity fear and selflessness. Results show that body dissatisfaction was linked only to maturity fear among Muslim women, and to selflessness, self-transcendence and self-enhancement values among Jewish women. Taken together the findings point to some protection among Muslim women against Westernization effects on body dissatisfaction, including a null effect of selflessness, and reveal that maturity fear is a consistent predictor of body dissatisfaction among Muslim-Arab women in Israel. The results are discussed in light of the situation of this group in Israel.

Tracing the educational journey of Indian women across generations: A study of multigenerational education mobility in India

This study investigates intergenerational mobility and socioeconomic disparities in women's education in India, utilizing data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1. It uniquely examines three generations of women: the second generation (G2), aged 45–75, who reported on their own education, their mother's education (G1), and their daughter's education (G3). Despite India's economic growth over the past three decades, women's educational status remains poor, influenced by enduring gender discrimination. The study constructs educational transition matrices and measures two mobility indices: M1, which represents the expected proportion of daughters transitioning from their mother's educational level, and M2, which measures the extent of transitions between educational categories. M1 is further broken down into upward and downward mobility. The findings highlight significant progress in educational mobility across generations, with notable increases in upward mobility from the grandmother-mother to the mother-daughter generations, indicating a positive trend. Urban women show significantly higher levels of educational mobility compared to their rural counterparts. However, the study also identifies a decline in multigenerational educational mobility among Muslim women. Persistent caste-based disparities in education are observed, although there is a promising trend of narrowing gaps in recent years. Additionally, the study reveals substantial progress in educational attainment among the most economically disadvantaged groups compared to previous generations.

Muslim women's work

Islam's view of women and their rights is a multifaceted view. Islam’s view of women includes all their aspects and roles, therefore respecting their rights in society as human beings also as a mother, a sister and as a daughter. For each of these women’s status (human being, mother, sister, girl), Islam assigned the rights and fair duties to them and saved them from the oppression of ignorance that has been done to them. Islam also has raised their status and given them the right to participate in building society and improving their levels and abilities. The ruling on women working outside the home is one of the issues that is debated in Islamic centres, Jurisprudence and religious centres have conducted detailed research in this area. If we look at human society today, we see that many women have proved their skills in their work and expertise. They have an active partnership in the development of societies in all areas, even some of those areas that cannot be done without women and without women's participation are close to disability and immobility. At the same time, the work of women in societies has created some problems for society, and women themselves have increased their obligations because of their work and has caused some social problems, including increased crisis and delay in marriage as well as some crimes and other problems. This research aims to discuss the ruling on women working outside the home and determine the conditions and guidelines of this issue and the appropriate places that exist for women to work and the impact of women's work in the economic development of countries and societies. It raises all these from the perspective of Islamic jurisprudence.

Religious monoglossia/heteroglossia and discourses of women leadership in Pakistani higher education

A growing body of literature reveals how women in higher education are either excluded from leadership roles or face challenges when they take such responsibilities. The role of religion in Muslim societies is vital to understand Muslim women's sense of “self” and their academic leadership roles and engagement in social and political activities. This study uses Bakhtin's writings as well as a feminist perspective in Islam to unpack how religious discourses shape and construe Muslim women's leadership roles in a public university in Pakistan. Data in this study was drawn from two sources: (a) semi-structured interviews with women academic leaders and academics and (b) focus group discussions with postgraduate students. Findings suggest that discourse around women's leadership in higher education in Pakistan is influenced by a male-centric religious monoglossia characterized by discourses on the hijab, masculinist religious epistemologies, and male-centric divine imagery. In addition, the study points to heteroglossic de-centering of the religious monoglossia by suggesting heteroglossic fluidity in Pakistani religious ethics that favors women's roles as leaders in higher education. A heteroglossic fluidity is characterized by how Islam is viewed as a national project, interpreted along sectarian and gendered lines, and often misused to discourage women from assuming leadership roles.

Going Insane: Battered Muslim Women Reclaim a Positive Identity.

This study examines the process of identity negotiation of 15 Muslim women who resisted severe abuse by their husbands and extended family by becoming mentally ill and thereafter, divorcing. Content analysis of the interview narratives shows that these women were poor, married young, and endured years of battering, isolation, and silencing for the sake of family honor and children's well-being. Entrapped within a web of sociocultural norms legitimizing wife beating, and abusive extended family relationships that annihilate their voice by branding them as maj'nuna/insane, these women explained that they were terrorized helpless victims fearing the stigma of being labeled insane and the resultant harm to their children. With the deterioration of their health, threat of annihilation, and imminent danger to themselves and their children, these women broke through the normative oppressive framework by becoming maj'nuna/mentally ill. Detached from the extended family and no longer caring to endorse a label that discredited what they said or did, these women overtly resisted by escaping to the family of origin and/or mental health clinic to reveal the abuse, divorce, and seek treatment. Severing all family ties, and now residing in public housing, these women felt safe to renegotiate a favorable identity and reclaim the right to live with dignity. Implications/recommendations: (1) The criminalization of battering and prosecution of batterers is not enough to deter when cultural norms sanction battering, (2) additional diagnostic categories are needed to identify the precursors of battering within the strategies of overt and covert resistance battered women adopt in collectivistic cultures such as mental and neurophysiological dysfunctions, and (3) it is necessary to transcend the individualistic model titling battered women within the false dichotomy of victimization or agency as it fails to reflect battered women's experience in collectivistic cultures and their resistant strategies to abuse in the extended family.

Can Religious Modest Dress be Included in the Feminist Project

In 2009, Nicolas Sarkozy, the former French president, claimed that the burqa was not a symbol of faith but rather a sign of enslavement, and was therefore unwelcome in French society (La Fornara, 2018). Feminism aims to free women from any such ‘enslavement’ that would act as a barrier to gender equality. Nevertheless, the intersectional injustices that impact religious women make this debate more complicated than what Sarkozy suggested. This essay will therefore explore the ethical significance of religious modest dress, and advocate for its compatibility with the feminist project. This will be achieved through focusing on Jewish and Muslim women, living as minoritised groups in Western countries. While religious patriarchal structures seem to contradict the strive for gender equality through dictating how women present themselves, this should not permit the Western world to act as ‘saviours’ and reduce these women to victims. Instead, they should be included in the feminist cause and an effort should be made to truly understand their perspectives in order to strive for a modern world that treats men and women from all backgrounds more equally than it does currently.

Mapping Muslim Chaplaincy: An Analytic Review of Publications between 1989 and 2023

Abstract This article analyses the emergent field of Muslim chaplaincy research by reviewing English-language publications in this growing area of professional religious work, especially in Europe and the United States. After presenting the method of our enquiry, we provide a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the literature reviewed. We then focus on three key topics in Muslim Chaplaincy Studies that derive from our quantitative and qualitative research. These are: the training of Muslim chaplains, which is strongly linked to professionalisation, the vocabulary and sources that underpin Muslim chaplaincy and, finally, the significance of the increasing involvement of Muslim women in this area of professional religious work and leadership. Having identified exactly 100 publications related to the development of Muslim chaplaincy, many of them arising from empirical research, serious practitioner reflections located in peer-review publications, and a small number of articles that are explicitly devoted to methodological considerations, we are suggesting in this article that a distinctive sub-field of Muslim Chaplaincy Studies can now be identified.

Religious savior-centered psychotherapy for depression: a focus on women’s well-being

ABSTRACT This study explores the effectiveness of Religious Savior-Centered Psychotherapy (RSCP) in treating depression in religious women. RSCP is a therapeutic approach that integrates Islamic teachings, particularly the concept of a Savior, with cognitive and behavioral strategies to address mental health challenges. Unlike traditional therapy models, RSCP emphasizes spiritual healing by fostering a strong connection to faith and a hopeful outlook for the future. The study aims to assess RSCP’s impact on depression in women by aligning with Islamic teachings and emphasizing positive future expectations. A pretest-posttest design with a two-month follow-up was employed to evaluate the effects of RSCP. The study included 70 women aged 18–60 from five counseling clinics in Tehran, all diagnosed with mild to moderate depression, and having expressed a belief in a Savior. MANCOVA was used to analyze the data, ensuring assumptions of normality and homogeneity of variances were met. MANCOVA results indicated a significant linear correlation between the treatment and depression levels (p < .05), with a large effect size (partial η2 = .61 for posttest and .54 for follow-up). Initial findings suggest RSCP’s potential benefit on mental well-being. RSCP has the potential to be integrated into existing mental health frameworks as a culturally sensitive option, particularly for Muslim women seeking faith-based approaches to mental health care. Future research with larger samples, randomized controlled trials, and longitudinal studies is needed to explore the effectiveness of this new positive psychotherapy approach.

Remembering the Disremembered

Abstract This article reads Abubakar Ibrahim’s short story “The Book of Remembered Things” as an anti-jihadist narrative that meditates on the traumatic effects of violent jihadism on the postcolonial Muslim domestic space and a counternarrative to the dominant body of Western fictional responses to the 9/11 terror attacks. Situated at the intersection of Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak?” and postcolonial trauma theory, the article argues that Ibrahim mourns and remembers the traumas of the disremembered postcolonial subaltern African Muslim woman elided in the dominant discourses on the WoT and also subtly critiques fundamentalists ideologies like Boko Haram. Ibrahim shows that Jihadists’ quest for an Islamic theocracy or caliphate is doomed to fail because it revolves around a sacrificial structure wherein the Muslin woman is sacrificed on the altar of ideological incoherence. By focusing on the nexus between WoT and gendered trauma, the article explores how Ibrahim reclaims the subaltern woman’s voice in the wake of violent jihadism.

Muslim Women's Experiences of Domestic Violence and Abuse: A Meta-Ethnography of Global Evidence.

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a form of interpersonal violence perpetrated by intimate partners or family members. It includes physical, sexual, psychological, emotional, and economic abuse, as well as coercive and controlling behaviors. DVA is associated with severe physical, psychological, social, and economic consequences for the victims. Muslim women, like women from all communities, experience DVA in its various forms, however, they may experience additional barriers when seeking support. This review was conducted using a meta-ethnography approach to synthesize published qualitative evidence on Muslim women's perspectives and experiences of DVA. A systematic search of global evidence in six electronic English databases including Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ASSIA identified a total of 33 qualitative studies that met the inclusion criteria. The synthesis of these studies revealed four major themes: the experience and impacts of abuse; risk factors contributing to abuse; help-seeking; and the coping strategies of Muslim women. These findings emphasize the importance of religion not only as a risk factor for violence and a barrier to help-seeking but also as a coping strategy for dealing with violence. The findings offer important insights for policymaking and in supporting these women more effectively.

Happiness Permissibility: Negotiating Hadith on Polygamy as Perfection of Worship in Wahdah Islamiyah Muslim Women

The practice of polygamy, which is debated among women, is accepted by Wahdah Islamiyah Muslim women as an embodiment of religious teachings enshrined in the hadith. This acceptance does not negate the complexities and contradictions inherent in the hadith that discuss the practice. This study explores the reading position of Wahdah Islamiyah Muslim women in understanding and practicing the hadith of polygamy. Using qualitative methods, data were collected through in-depth interviews with 12 persons consisting of 5 first wives, 5 second wives, 1 da’īyah (preacher), and 1 head of the Wahdah Islamiyah Muslim women. In-depth observations were also made of key informant activities. The data were analyzed using a fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence) analysis model combined with the framework of Stuart Hall's reception theory. The findings of this study reveal three different reading positions: 1) The hegemonic reading model using the argument of belief in an authoritative text. 2) the negotiated reading model emphasizing the fulfillment of the husband's needs driven by concerns about the husband's compliance with the principles of justice. 3) the oppositional reading model rooted in the vulnerability of wives who challenge of ensuring fair treatment. These three positions emerge from the structure of the hadith discourse where the textual affirmation of polygamy serves as the basis for its resolution. The incorporation of settlement in an interpretive and counterintuitive perspective in the development of fiqh signifies a full acceptance of the law while also considering the goals of responsible individuals (maqāṣid al-mukallafīn).

Negotiating Islam and feminism: the political and social participation of Muslim women in Barcelona

ABSTRACT In secular contexts, the growing presence of Muslim women activists in the public sphere has challenged the stereotype that Islam plays an oppressive role in women’s emancipation and liberation. The relationship between secular feminism and religion is far more complex. This article explores how socially or politically engaged Muslim women understand, negotiate, and challenge secular feminist discourses and practices in Barcelona, Spain. Based upon 28 semi-structured interviews, informal conversations, and participant observation of political events, this article identifies three different positionings towards feminism: (1) women who identify as ‘feminist’, (2) women who identify as ‘Islamic feminist’, (3) women who express ambivalence regarding both feminism and Islamic feminism. Far from being a static classification, these three positionings show the different dilemmas that women face over the course of their lives. I discuss the way they are the result of negotiations and ‘recognition gaps’ in feminist movements.