ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the theme suggested by Abner Cohen work on power and symbolism in a complex society, through analysing the symbolic and practical value of women in relation to the social and religious identity of Muslims living in Aligarh, a small qasbah town of Uttar Pradesh. The reasons why Muslims were successful in defending a symbol of minority identity, unlike occasions, are founded in the very nature of the symbol chosen to defend. The chapter examines three angles to the question of identity: the first is the connection between gender and identity through concepts of "education" and "ignorance"; the second is the state of women's self-determination through financial independence, while the third looks at a specific event which occurred in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. Even if women earn money either by going out of the household to work or by taking piecework into the home, it is seen as a result of poverty rather than choice.
