ABSTRACT
Muslims’ lives around the world and across generations take on a variety of lived experiences and practices. The relationship between their experiences and the Islamic interpretive tradition and resulting authoritative discourses is largely one-way, with Muslims looking for guidance and understanding from the traditional sources. This chapter outlines various contemporary modalities in which Muslim women engaged in different personal, social, cultural and political contexts dare to contest, defy, or propose alternative models to the mainstream, locally dominant, masculine authoritative way of interpreting Islam. Scholars from a variety of academic disciplines highlight the dynamic nature of identities and understandings of culture, religion, and gender including and beyond Muslim contexts. The chapter concludes with an analysis of some Western categories and assumptions attributable to the colonial mindset that are still relevant to the discussion on gender and Islam.
