Disrupting (gendered) Islamophobia: the practice of feminist ijtihad to support the agency of young Muslim women

Abstract

Muslim feminist scholars highlight, and seek to transform, racist, sexist and Islamophobic discourses through feminist interpretations of their religion. This paper reports on data gathered from an interview-based study involving four young Muslim women from the same Brisbane (Queensland) community. The focus is on how these young women are understanding, and finding spaces of agency, within these discourses with reference to their faith. The Islamic principle of ijtihad (jurisprudential interpretation of religious text) and the practice of feminist ijtihad are theorized as powerful tools in supporting the young women to counter the Islamophobia and gendered Islamophobia in their lives. Using these tools, however, as this paper argues, is not unproblematic and can reinscribe disempowering gender and ethno-cultural relations. Amid unprecedented gendered Islamophobia and the clear imperative of supporting Muslim women to access the tools of feminist ijtihad, the paper provides important insight into the possibilities and problematics of these tools.

Keywords:

• Muslim women
• feminist ijtihad
• Islam
• religious identities
• gender identities

Notes

1. It is acknowledged that the identity ‘feminist’ is a contentious label that some Muslim women do not welcome, given its association with Western versions of empowerment. The term is used here with caution in representing Muslim women who are committed to gender equality.