Lowering the gaze: Representations of Muslim women in South African society in the 1990's

Abstract

Muslim women’s lack of access to mosque space has left them with few opportunities to direct or influence the interpretation of the theological texts. The mosque is an almost strictly gendered space that is seen as a key platform from which Muslims are exhorted to fulfill existing obligations and where new practices emerge as part of the creation of tradition in the Muslim community. I would further like to argue that it is the acts and interventions of the women who have claimed Islam and its belief system in its entirety as their own and then shaped this to fit their lives that will enable Muslims to rethink existing attitudes to women in Muslim communities.