ABSTRACT
With regard to the routine activities in mosques in West Sumatera, in this article, we aim at elucidating how women position themselves in a segregated space. Through examining the forms of spatial management by observing and interviewing mosque congregations, we demonstrate the extent to which mosques can serve as a space that both limits and supports women participating in their communities on the basis of the social contexts and issues in the local environments. Furthermore, we show the contextual and cultural differences between two mosques located in different areas, Nurul Amri Mosque in Padangpanjang City and Nurul A’la Mosque in Tanah Datar district. We also show the complexity of hidden meanings of gender differences in a religious space that is interlinked with religious values and at the same time influenced by the sociocultural life in Minangkabau.
