Introduction

In the growing body of academic literature on gender, women and Islam, patriarchal and traditional interpretations of women's position in Islam are making place for an increased focus on the more agentic images and aspects of women's practices of religion or religiosity (Guta and Karolak, 2015; Joseph, 2006). This phenomenon reflects women's agency within and beyond the religious frameworks, but at the same time, it incorporates challenges of women in both traditional and modern contexts dealing with traditional interpretations of religion. While in states with traditionalist interpretations of Islam, such as Iran, women's deviance from cultural-religious norms might put their social image and well-being at risk, in Western liberal democracies with Muslim minorities, many religious women struggle with acceptance and inclusion (Yasmeen and Markovic, 2014). This chapter aims to contribute to a better understanding of the relation between gender and Islam by portraying and exploring a subjective account of conciliating religiosity and modern individualism. The chapter thus explores a contemporary subject that affects Muslim's women's lives in the Global North.

The study is conducted based on a life story narrative of a Muslim migrant woman from Iran, now living in Belgium. Her life story and experiences prior to and after migration are analysed to reveal how she has built and made sense of her religiosity in the European context. Muslim migrants in Europe have faced challenges defining their identity and fighting against Islamophobia especially since 11 September 2001. While emancipating themselves from representations purely based on their religious affiliation, Muslim migrants in Europe have largely remained attached to their countries of origin (Amghar, Boubekeur and Emerson, 2007) and their religious and cultural background.

The interviewee's country of origin, Iran, is known for its religious social, legal and political system based on a specific interpretation of Shiite Islam (Darvishpour, 2003; Farazmand, 1995). The Islamic Republic was established after the Iranian revolution in 1979 and has ever since enforced a version of Sharia law as the official law of the land. Despite this traditional legal and social setting, women living under traditional laws have long challenged the patriarchal ideologies attributed to traditional Islamic faith and practice (Moghadam, 2002).