Women and Jihadism: Between the Battlefield and the Home-front

Abstract

This article briefing offers preliminary reflections and insights into global jihadi discourses on women's role as militant activists. It references primary source writings and audiovisual materials produced by jihadi groups and ideologues. The briefing will provide an overview of global jihadi discourses on Muslim women’s role as militant activists, firstly highlighting some of the more important contributions concerning women produced by jihadi ideologues, secondly, examining the place of the Muslim woman in jihadi media, and thirdly, comparing Sunni jihadi discourses on women with transnational Shi’i jihadi discourses. The tensions between the need to recruit women into the frontline and the importance of Muslim women's traditional role on the home-front create competing discourses. This analysis opens possibilities for further research, and for feminist reflection on the operations of gendered forms of agency in the intersections of militancy and conservative neo-traditional interpretations of Islamic law.