When Feminism Meets Faith: How Muslim Women Redefine Their Trajectory

By New Age Islam Staff Writer 21 October 2025 This article provides a new window on the negotiation of faith and feminism amongst Muslim women. In an Indian context—where gender, religion and modernity are always in conversation—it gives a potent lesson: it is not always that challenging inequality requires resisting traditions. Sometimes it requires re-reading, re-visualising, and taking back. At a time when most are content to view religion as fixed or limiting, a "pious feminist consciousness" is both new and persuasive: that religion can be a force for equality. In India's plural communities, such an idea is worthy of more attention. Major Points: 1. Recently scholars characterised "pious feminist consciousness" as using religion to fight gender inequality as opposed to dismissing it. 2. It is pious due to religion's importance and feminist due to gender equality's significance. 3. In this transition, they made changes to their religious life—sometimes incrementally, sometimes drastically—by adopting different understandings of their religion, embracing different association networks, or reassessing marriage, jobs and school. 4. In Muslim areas (in India or anywhere else), enlisting religious leaders, using religious texts, and allowing a chance for Muslim women to be heard may be more powerful than simply presuming that "faith = barrier". ----- Most of what is discussed with regard to Muslim women is strict religious roles or turning away from religion altogether. But another chapter exists: it's that of women who are loyal to their faith but resistant to gender roles from within—constituting what the book so aptly calls a "pious feminist consciousness". This research looks at how some Muslim women in London, who first joined strict religious groups (like the Salafi movement), later left those strict circles. Importantly, they didn’t give up their faith; instead, they changed how they see it. In a society where religion and gender are both very important, this change gives us ideas for similar places, including India. The Background: Embracing The Ascetic Religious Life The author looked at twenty women who joined the Salafi movement in Britain from 1980 to 2010. Salafism is a strict Sunni Islamic belief that says it follows the first Muslim community closely. Many of the women liked it because it seemed to provide a “pure” and clear way of believing, with strong rules and simple answers. The appeal was genuine: young women seeking a place to belong, plain beliefs, a powerful religious identity, or a community despite ethnic variations found it in Salafism. But it also entailed strict notions regarding gender roles: gender roles for women, codes of modesty, and familial hierarchies were strongly emphasised. The Critical Moment: Framing Gender As The Issue. Life in the community began to give these women a lot to consider. Education, career plans, marriage, and childbearing—these created disagreements between what the community told them and what they felt. Instead of viewing every problem as their own fault, these women slowly started to wonder: Is there something wrong with me—or is the system unfair to women? Recently this is the first level of awareness as a feminist: that as a female in this religious framework, one is confined both from society as a whole and from society itself. From Recognition To Critical Faith: The “Pious Feminist Consciousness” The second step is not merely acknowledging problems; it is challenging religious assumptions about gender. The women didn't entirely abandon religion—they became religious—but they began to see that the explanations they lived under did not always equate women as equals. They began to challenge through Islamic texts, beliefs in faith, and life experience why they held a lower position than men did. Recently scholars characterise "pious feminist consciousness" as using religion to fight gender inequality as opposed to dismissing it. It is pious due to religion's importance and feminist due to gender equality's significance. In this transition, they made changes to their religious life—sometimes incrementally, sometimes drastically—by adopting different understandings of their religion, embracing different association networks, or reassessing marriage, jobs and school. Leaving—But Not Complete Severance In many of these instances, excluding itself from the core fundamentalist Salafi community did not mean forgetting religion entirely or religiously related lifestyles altogether. The majority of these converts continued to hold on to aspects from their previous religion, but meanings of such aspects varied. Some moved from extremely strict types of face-covering(Niqab) to freer forms (hijab) or from different religious scholars or groups that they preferred most. The big picture: Transformation didn't always entail abandoning faith; it entailed transforming the way she was connected to religion. According to one woman, she still appreciated spiritual discipline, but no longer did she accept the automatic home role demanded of her under Salafism. Why It Matters In India India is home to a big population of Muslims who reside under different and dissimilar circumstances. Indian Muslim females juggle with religious obligations, cultural pressures, education, and careers. The narrative of resilient feminist ideology is significant: it is significant because it illustrates that challenging gender inequity is possible without losing faith. In India, where purist perspectives shape certain religious behaviours, this study invites a different approach: women within religion can be agents of change within rather than outside of their own communities. For organisations that work on gender and education, for policymakers, and for those seeking societal transformation, this implies that questions of gender and religion do not always need to commence with battles over secular and religious concepts—but can employ those concepts of faith traditions themselves. The Larger Lessons Faith and agency are not mutually exclusive. In most instances, religious women are portrayed as helpless victims or as rebels who reject their religion. Recent research uncovers another pattern—staying religious but restructuring what that means. Women's equality is even hampered in places of prayer: It's not just society that's holding them back. Radical religious groups even have male-female guidelines and restrictions. The first step is to be conscious of these. Change occurs gradually and stepwise: The women did not quit en masse. Many made incremental changes—from becoming sensitive to inequity to breaking rules to transforming communities. Piety is still relevant: Significantly, the research highlights that these women continued to appreciate devotion, religiosity, and religious identification. The transition wasn't from religion but to a form of religion that was perceived as just. What it would mean for social programmes: In Muslim areas (in India or anywhere else), enlisting religious leaders, using religious texts, and allowing a chance for Muslim women to be heard may be more powerful than simply presuming that "faith = barrier". Conclusion This article provides a new window on the negotiation of faith and feminism amongst Muslim women. In an Indian context—where gender, religion and modernity are always in conversation—it gives a potent lesson: it is not always that challenging inequality requires resisting traditions. Sometimes it requires re-reading, re-visualising, and taking back. At a time when most are content to view religion as fixed or limiting, a "pious feminist consciousness" is both new and persuasive: that religion can be a force for equality. In India's plural communities, such an idea is worthy of more attention. URl: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-women-feminism/feminism-faith-muslim-women-redefine-trajectory/d/137334 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism