Muslim Women, Islamic Discourses and Public Participation in Britain

在过去的20年里，我通过各种专业工作和慈善事业与穆斯林社区（男性和女性）合作。在此期间，接受进一步教育和高等教育的穆斯林妇女人数有所增加（Basit，1997年; Afshar等人，2005年），因此在理论上增加了她们的社会资本以及参与公共事务和融入社会的能力（菲利普斯，2009年;霍普金斯和Gale，2009年）。然而，穆斯林妇女从教育到职业或刚刚进入劳动力市场的过渡率普遍低得令人难以置信（Haw，2009年，2010年）。利用我作为社会凝聚力和宗教间关系领域从业者的经验，拟议的研究试图了解为什么仍然是这种情况，特别是伊斯兰话语的使用是否，在多大程度上，以及在何种情况下可以合法化。这项研究认为，对伊斯兰话语中关于穆斯林妇女在公共生活中所扮演的角色和角色的授权和更个性化的解释（Doi 1989; Turabi，1991; Darsh 1995）对她的社会互动和与英国社会其他部分的关系有非常明确的影响（参见1995年）。Suleiman 2012）。重温伊斯兰来源中的关键文本（《古兰经》、《西拉》、《圣训》和相关的法律的和历史文献），并力求了解在不同的历史-文化-政治背景下，对穆斯林妇女的隔离和对她们的公共参与的任何限制的各种看法在多大程度上得到了界定和重新界定，然后，我将寻求实证调查如何在伊斯兰学者和社区领袖，特别是不同群体的英国穆斯林妇女自己的手中，这种解读塑造并影响了他们与当今英国更广泛社会的接触。2所采用的调查和分析的研究方法是定性的。中心，我将采用至少30个深入的自然主义采访进行了话语和主题分析，至少10个英国的乌里玛（神职人员）和学者，以及采访/焦点小组与至少20个穆斯林妇女在英国一个或多个选定的地方不同的选区：i）有些人在外工作，ii）有些人选择留在家里，iii）在社区组织和更广泛的社会中担任高级领导职务。我的研究问题如下：1）穆斯林妇女参与英国公共生活在多大程度上受到a）她们自己和B）他人对伊斯兰文本和传统的阅读和解释/理解的影响？2)在他们的一生中，这种思维和决策是如何发展和改变的（如果有的话）？为什么？3)英国不同的穆斯林妇女如何解释这种“专家”和“日常”穆斯林观点、意见和经验之间的差异？4)限制穆斯林妇女参与联合王国公共生活的其他因素/障碍有哪些？我的工作假设是，伊斯兰教文本在性别隔离、女性领导和参与公共生活方面所说的比学者和社区所读到的要少得多。Mernissi 1991; Roald 2001; Barlas 2003; Ramadan 2004; Wadud 2007）。相反，今天的“伊斯兰”意识形态以及隔离和性别不平等的做法是宗教、文化、政治、社会排斥和父权制复杂交织的产物（参见《伊斯兰教法》）。Mahmood 2005）。

I have worked with Muslim communities (men and women), through various professional jobs and charity commitments for the past 20 years. In that time, there has been a rise in Muslim women entering further and higher education (Basit 1997; Afshar et al 2005) and so in theory increasing their social capital and capacity for public participation and societal integration (Phillips 2009; Hopkins and Gale 2009). However, the transition from education to career or just entering the labour market generally remains incredibly low amongst Muslim women (Haw 2009, 2010). Making use of my experience as a practitioner in the field of social cohesion and interfaith relations, the proposed research is an attempt to understand why that is still the case and in particular whether, to what extent, and in which circumstances the use of Islamic discourses can legitimize this. This research contends that the authorized and more individual interpretation of Islamic discourses about the perceived role and the part that a Muslim woman plays in public life (Doi 1989; Turabi, 1991; Darsh 1995) have very definite implications for her social interactions and relations with the rest of British society (cf. Suleiman 2012). Revisiting key texts in the Islamic sources (the Qur'an, Sira, Hadith and related legal and historical literature), and seeking to understand to what extent the spectrum of views concerning the segregation of Muslim women and any limit on their public participation has been defined and redefined in different historical-cultural-political contexts, I will then seek to investigate empirically how in the hands of Islamic scholars and community leaders, but especially different groups of British Muslim women themselves, such interpretations have shaped and influenced their engagement with wider society in Britain today.The research methods of investigation and analysis adopted are qualitative. Centrally, I will employ a discourse and thematic analysis of at least 30 in-depth naturalistic interviews conducted with at least 10 UK based ulama (clerics) and academics, as well as interviews/focus groups with different constituencies of at least 20 Muslim women in one or more selected localities in the UK: i) some of whom work outside the home, ii) some who choose to stay at home and iii) those in senior leadership positions in community organisations and wider society. My research questions are as follows: 1) To what extent is Muslim women's involvement in UK public life influenced by a) their own and b) others' readings and interpretations/understandings of Islamic texts and traditions? 2) How (if at all) has such thinking and decision-making developed and changed over their lifetime? For what reasons?3) How do different Muslim women in Britain explain any discrepancies between such 'expert' and 'everyday' Muslim views, opinions and experience?4) What other factors/barriers may be involved in limiting Muslim women's involvement in public life in the UK?My working hypothesis is that Islamic texts say much less than scholars and communities have read into them with respect to segregation of the sexes, female leadership and involvement in public life (cf. Mernissi 1991; Roald 2001; Barlas 2003; Ramadan 2004; Wadud 2007). Rather today's "Islamic" ideologies and practices of segregation and gender inequality are the product of complex intersections of religion, culture, politics, social exclusion and patriarchy (cf. Mahmood 2005).