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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Appropriating the Mosque: Women's Religious Groups in Khartoum
Author:Nageeb, Salme A.ISNI
Year:2007
Periodical:Afrika Spectrum
Volume:42
Issue:1
Pages:5-27
Language:English
Geographic term:Sudan
Subjects:women's organizations
Islam
gender relations
Religion and Witchcraft
Women's Issues
Urbanization and Migration
organizations
urbanization
Abstract:This paper discusses the agency of women's mosque groups in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, which have spread considerably since the National Islamic Front (NIF) seized power in 1989. The paper empirically demonstrates how the mosque groups are forming a social space for women and how this is leading to the appropriation and transformation of a public-religious and highly masculine space such as the mosque. The main argument of the paper maintains that the case of the mosque groups contests the undifferentiated view that women in Islamic, and especially Islamized societies are (necessarily) oppressed and that the only way to question the unequal gender relations and power structure is by getting away from religion. The paper asserts that, on the contrary, women active in mosque groups are claiming (more) power by becoming (more) religious. Through this power they constitute a space, transform public and religious spaces and negotiate their gendered position vis-à-vis social and religious authorities and institutions. The paper is based on empirical research carried out among women's religious groups in Khartoum in 1999, and again in 2002 and 2004-2005. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. in English, German and French. [Journal abstract]
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