Imams’ Involvement in Promoting Gender Equity in Mumbai, India
Could imams, without compromising their faith, promote gender equity in a poor community of Mumbai, India and, if so, under what conditions ? The authors tease this basic question in this article. Considering Islam as a discursive tradition and using a mixed, qualitative and quantitative method, we discuss the scope and limitations of the Imams’ involvement in a participatory action research, as one of the components of a broader research program on sexual health and risky sexual behavior in poor Mumbai neighborhoods, where the preliminary results of the research phase highlight the importance of gender equity. During the action phase, these results were submitted to the Imams who have also identified with the researchers extracts from the canonical texts of Islam compatible with these results. The messages resulting from this collaboration were transmitted by the Imams to the community through various channels, mainly Friday sermons gathering several thousands of Muslim men. The article points out that while Imams have transformed some of their misogynistic knowledge and attitudes (domestic violence ; marital sex for the exclusive satisfaction of husbands) as a result of their involvement in participatory action research, other elements strongly rooted in local culture remain reluctant to change. It is unclear whether this reluctance is reflected in the community Muslim women in terms of subordination or resistance.