"It's about freedom": contesting dominant representations of devout Muslim women in the space of the nation

Since September 11 there has been a rise of Islamophobia in Australian public discourse, matched by a growth of racialised attacks on visibly identifiable Muslims in public space. These cultural racisms have arisen in a context where Islamic religious signifiers and practices have come to be read as signs of fundamentalism, terrorism and threat to national political traditions and cultural values. In particular, the hijab has become a symbol of these tensions, with the veiled woman being read as the embodiment of a ‘repressive and fundamentalist religion’. However, as some Muslim and feminist scholars have proposed, these readings rob Muslim women of their ability to articulate the reasons why wear the veil or engage in gendered religious practices. This paper argues that this enacts a form of disembodiment, whereby Muslim womens’ ability to comfortably inhabit their bodies and assert themselves in the public sphere is limited. In particular the paper draws upon two case studies which express this disembodiment, whilst highlighting the counter-strategies that devout Muslim women are adopting to reinsert their bodies and narratives in the national frame. The first refers to the recent media backlash which followed a public lecture held at Melbourne University by Islamic organization Hikmah Way, where the audience was segregated along gender lines. The second draws upon interviews conducted with veiled Muslim women in Sydney, following the Cronulla riot. These interviews show how Muslim women are contesting dominant representations of the hijab in western popular discourse by recoding it as a signifier of religious and national identity, and as an expression of democratic freedom.

Muslim personal law

The article examines the development of the legalism of Personal Law and provisions of community rights for disparate communities in modern India, and the role of religion and communal politics in their perpetuation. The case study undertaken here is specifically the Muslim community’s Constitutionally-sanctioned Personal law (MPL). MPL has not been without criticisms both from outside and within the community, particularly in respect of gendered disadvantages that arise within the provisions safeguarding the practices, which cover marriage, divorce, alimony, inheritance, custody, succession, and so forth.

Conclusion: Invisible aid: Islam, Muslim NGOs and development

This concluding chapter brings together the key themes and emphasises the key points raised by the contributing authors.

Muslim young people online: “Acts of citizenship” in socially networked spaces

This paper reviews the current literature regarding Muslim young people’s online social networking and participatory practices with the aim of examining whether these practices open up new spaces of civic engagement and political par-ticipation. The paper focuses on the experiences of young Muslims living in western societies, where, since September 11, the ability to assert claims as citizens in the public arena has diminished. The paper draws upon Isin & Nielsen’s (2008) “acts of citizenship” to define the online practices of many Muslim youth, for whom the internet provides a space where new performances of citizenship are enacted outside of formal citizenship rights and spaces of participa-tion. These “acts" are evaluated in light of theories which articulate the changing nature of publics and the public sphere in a digital era. The paper will use this conceptual framework in conjunction with the literature review to ex-plore whether virtual, online spaces offer young Muslims an opportunity to create a more inclusive discursive space to interact with co-citizens, engage with social and political issues and assert their citizen rights than is otherwise afforded by formal political structures; a need highlighted by policies which target minority Muslim young people for greater civ-ic participation but which do not reflect the interests and values of Muslim young people.