Islamic feminism in Bosnia and Herzegovina: with the Quran for women's rights

When Muslims in Bosnia and Herzegovina flock to Friday prayers, it is mostly only men who come. As in many patriarchal Islamic societies, it is not customary for Muslims there for women to participate in Friday prayers in the mosque.

"Formally, it was never forbidden. The reason why women were not present was simply a result of a culture shaped by men," sociologist Dermana Kurić from the University of Sarajevo told DW.

But that is slowly changing, as Muslim women no longer want to be invisible.

Thus, in April 2026, the Council for Religious Affairs of the Islamic Community in Zenica encouraged Muslim women to participate in Friday prayers in all mosques in the district. Two mosque communities in Sarajevo also opened Friday prayers for women. Muslim women pray separately from men, in a separate room or on the balcony.

"We see that Muslim women have gained more space within the Islamic community in the last few decades," says Kurić.

The fight for rights

Bosnia and Herzegovina is a secular state, men and women are equal before the law. Sociologist Kurić explains:

"Muslim feminists fight for women's rights within an Islamic frame of reference."

Many do this by actively participating in society without openly questioning misogynistic interpretations of the Quran.

Highly educated Muslim women also consciously confront interpretations of traditional Islamic scholarship that assign women a subordinate role in the family and the Islamic community.

“For Islamic feminists, it is about gender relations based on autonomy and personal responsibility – not control or domination,” says Kurić.

Reading the Quran from a female perspective

Feminist Bosnian Muslim women are part of a broader movement that has been gaining momentum in the Islamic world since the 1980s. They read the Quran from a female perspective and see it as an empowerment to fight for greater rights.

Gender researcher Zilka Spahić-Šiljak from the University of Sarajevo made a significant contribution to the spread of Islamic feminism in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the translation of the book "Sultaniya. The Power of Women in the World of Islam" (2005). The author is Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernisi (1940–2015), one of the mothers of Islamic feminism.

"Like other religions, Islam is shaped by the interpretations of its holy scriptures by male scholars, according to their experiences," says Spahić-Šiljak. "Women's experiences in this are almost non-existent, with rare exceptions. But justice is a central principle in the Quran – and there is no justice if women are not equal."

In addition to teaching at the University of Sarajevo, Spahić-Šiljak founded the online school "Feminism and Religion" in 2021, together with feminist Catholic nun Jadranka Rebeka Anić, further strengthening this topic at universities.

Islamic feminism, however, is not just an academic topic.

There is no justification for violence.

In recent decades, significant efforts have been made in Bosnia and Herzegovina to better protect women from violence and to reduce gender-based discrimination. However, very conservative ideas about gender roles still exist in some Muslim families.

As part of a campaign against domestic violence, Spahić-Šiljak criticized Islamic scholars in 2023 who, citing Surah 4:34, justify husbands' violence against women.

Influential imam Senaid Zajimović accepted her arguments and showed openness to a new interpretation of the surah. In his theological stance, he emphasized that the Quran should not be used to justify male domination and violence against women.

There is a lack of a strategy for improving the position of women.

"It is still difficult for women to reach positions of power and influence in the Islamic Community," political scientist Dževada Garić tells DW.

“For example, we have many female teachers in Islamic schools, but no women in the Riyaset, the highest decision-making body, nor in the Council of Muftis. Only 11 out of 87 representatives in the Islamic Community parliament are women.” Garić herself was one of the first women in a leadership position, as an international relations officer.

Dermana Kurić nevertheless points out changes: today there are more women who dare to run for office, for example in the Islamic Community parliament.

Changes are also visible among women theologians. Although there are still no female professors of theology at Islamic theological faculties, there are some in the fields of language and pedagogy. Younger generation of theologians are already working as assistants at faculties – and there is hope that they will soon advance to professorial positions.

In addition, the current Reis-ul-Ulema Husein Kavazović, the highest representative of Muslims in Bosnia, has established a special department for the advancement of women. Islamic theologians are now given a professional perspective and the opportunity to become familiar with the institutions and structures of the Islamic Community in Bosnia.

Among Muslim men, "there is no resistance in the sense that someone said 'you are not allowed to hold leadership positions,'" says sociologist Kurić.

However, there is still much to be done to improve the position of Muslim women in Bosnia and Herzegovina: "What is missing is a clear institutional strategy of the Islamic Community for the serious advancement and better inclusion of women - both as believers and as theologians."