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‘Religion Is Like Tofu, It Takes on the Flavour of Whatever It’s Cooked In’: Religious Citizenship and Pluralism Shaping Lived Religion Within an American Women’s Mosque

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Emergent Religious Pluralisms

Abstract

Some Muslim women have directly challenged male religious authority by leading women -only or even mixed-gender prayer (Hammer 2011). They include, for example, Shamima Shaikh, who led prayer in South Africa in 1995, Amina Wadud (USA, 2005 and beyond), Raheel Raza (UK, 2010) and Jamida Beevi (India , 2018).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.beliefnet.com/faiths/islam/2005/06/the-islamic-bill-of-rights-for-women-in-mosques.aspx [accessed 1 July 2018].

  2. 2.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com [accessed 1 July 2018].

  3. 3.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/faq.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  4. 4.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/ [accessed 1 July 2018].

  5. 5.

    This Arabic phrase is the name ‘Qalbu Maryam’s Mosque for Women ’ translated into Arabic. Knowledge of Arabic, the language of the Qur’an , adds credibility to an Islamic institution .

  6. 6.

    This means ‘May Peace and Mercy and Blessings of Allah Be Upon You’—a universal Islamic greeting.

  7. 7.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/faq.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  8. 8.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/worship.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  9. 9.

    As the website data I analyse is publicly available, I do not treat it as sensitive or requiring consent. I did, however, secure informed consent from Rabi’a Keeble in regard to the interview I conducted with her. Her details are not anonymised as she is a public figure by virtue of being the founder and leader of the QMWM.

  10. 10.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/worship.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  11. 11.

    http://www.cityofrefugeucc.org/about.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  12. 12.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/our-community-photos.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  13. 13.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/social-justice.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  14. 14.

    http://qalbumaryam.weebly.com/current-events.html [accessed 1 July 2018].

  15. 15.

    Interestingly, the website does not refer to ‘gender justice’ which would be a more precise term for this particular aspect of the mosque’s mission.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA

    Anna Piela

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  1. Anna Piela
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  1. Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park, Windsor, UK

    Jan-Jonathan Bock

  2. Georgetown University, Qatar, Doha, Qatar

    John Fahy

  3. CRASSH, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Samuel Everett

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Piela, A. (2019). ‘Religion Is Like Tofu, It Takes on the Flavour of Whatever It’s Cooked In’: Religious Citizenship and Pluralism Shaping Lived Religion Within an American Women’s Mosque. In: Bock, JJ., Fahy, J., Everett, S. (eds) Emergent Religious Pluralisms. Palgrave Studies in Lived Religion and Societal Challenges. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13811-0_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-13811-0_10

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