Neither Secular, nor Islamic Feminist: Tablighi Women’s Negotiation for Redefining Gender Boundary in Religious Sphere
摘要
Muslim women’s sense of equal responsibility in Islamization process, like their men counterparts, opens new possibilities for them to be religious leaders and Islamic preachers. In some cases, women challenge the patriarchal structure in Islamic movements and reinterpret religious texts to redefine their roles and boundary in religious sphere. Do the women in religious sphere seek equal gender roles and rights like the secular feminists’ demand in Western world? Or do the women seek gender equality like the ‘Islamic feminists’ who call for gender justice by reinterpreting Islamic texts? By considering a female Tablighi women’s group in Bangladesh, I argue that a singular ideology or approach—whether it is secular feminism or Islamic feminism—cannot capture the Islamist women’s gender practices. Tablighi women believe on male–female equal gender responsibility in Islamization process; however, this does not mean that they deliberately choose to adopt secular-feminist idea. Nor they choose Islamic feminist agenda. Instead, as argued in this chapter, the Tablighi women’s gender roles need to be understood through the lens of the existing gender practices in a wider social context and their lived experience. They accept new understandings of Islamic texts to enhance gender roles and to broaden their boundary in religious sphere. They respond creatively to the notions of gender equality and equal rights to secure their positions and status in the religious sphere that are conventionally restricted to them.