FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN MUSLIM SOCIETIES: THEOLOGICAL AND SOCIO-CULTURAL DEBATES IN CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE

Abstract

For centuries, Muslim women have been considered, according to fiqh or Islamic jurisprudence, legally ineligible to hold leadership positions in public sectors such as government, civil society and the judiciary. Contemporary debates on female leadership in Muslim societies range from constructing and reconstructing theological contestation to identifying and analysing the socio-cultural realities around Muslim women’s lives that make it more challenging for them to claim leadership. Today, on one side, a growing amount of literature is challenging conservative religious interpretations that disfavour female leadership and calling to reread religious source texts. On the other side, literature is raising voices on social gender perceptions and cultural biases that create barriers to women’s leadership. The recent inauguration of hijab-clad Muslim female presidents in Tanzania and Singapore also manifests a positive paradigm shift in the collective Muslim consciousness of female leadership. To understand this change, this article aligns with the Western feminist framework to investigate theological and socio-cultural debates to outline the different positions and new developments in contemporary literature in identifying the burdens on Muslim women’s shoulders that curtail their aspirations for leadership participation. This study argues that contemporary literature reveals a complex and formidable development in the debate that demands more careful attention to accommodate the changing environment and attitudes in Muslim societies regarding the permissibility and plausibility of female leadership.