Research
Explore Our Research
Vision
To contribute authentic and innovative scholarship through offering new frameworks, paradigms, and ideas that advance the Islamic intellectual tradition, inspire religious confidence, and support Muslim women’s lives, knowledge, and contemporary debates.
Mission
Al-Mujadilah research is a destination for world-class scholarship on normative, historical, and contemporary Islamic sciences by Muslim academics, religious leaders, and practitioners. Our unique imprint is responding to the lived needs and contemporary challenges of Muslim women by creating hub for debate and dialogue, research networks, mentorships, and capacity-building initiatives.
Connect To Our Research Community
Have you completed research relevant to one of our three research areas? Consider publishing it with Al-Mujadilah Research!
These programs and events offer women the opportunity to engage with scholarship in the areas of contemporary Muslim societies, Islamic law and gender.
Do you have a research question in one of our three areas? Ask it here!
Our annual summit facilitates research conversations between an international group of Muslim women on topics that are intellectually enriching and practically relevant.
Publications
Al-Mujadilah Research publishes short, accessible, and insightful research to expand the conversation about Muslim women. Read some of our papers here.
Abstract 
PDF
Fatima Al-Fihri: Founder and Entrepreneur
- 2024: Muslim Women in Public Life: Possibilities & Challenges
- Theoretical Foundations
Research Objectives and Principles of Excellence:
1- Women-Led and Women-Focused Scholarship
Al-Mujadilah Research highlights the thought, scholarship, and lived experiences of Muslim women scholars and practitioners. It provides an inclusive space for their active participation in producing, interpreting, and applying knowledge related to sacred texts, histories, and the Islamic traditions.
2- Grounded in the Islamic Intellectual Tradition
Our research is rooted in the Qur’an and Sunna and reflects the multiplicity, debate, and renewal that have characterized the Islamic intellectual heritage. We uphold this legacy while encouraging creative and contextually relevant scholarly responses to contemporary challenges.
3- Collaborative, Multidisciplinary, and Methodologically Rigorous
We address complex questions facing Muslim communities through collaboration among scholars, practitioners, and professionals across disciplines. Our work integrates traditional, historical, social, qualitative, and digital methods to produce rigorous and holistic knowledge.
4- Excellence Through Mentorship and Capacity Building
We cultivate scholarly excellence through mentorship and professional development at every intellectual and career stage. Our trainings and research initiatives equip scholars and community leaders to navigate different frameworks of knowledge—classical and contemporary—with confidence and integrity.
5- Accessible, Public-Facing, and Impactful
Al-Mujadilah Research translates academic insights into accessible and meaningful formats—dialogues, seminars, workshops, and publications—that foster public understanding, inspire reflection, and generate impact within and beyond academia.
The scope of al-Mujadilah Research is broad and encompasses all topics that align with its mission and vision, while adhering to its principles of scholarly excellence.
Al-Mujadilah Research funds and supports research projects in four main areas:
1- Theoretical Foundations
2- Practical Applications
3- Productive Arts
4- Muslim Women Lives and Histories.
Our areas of research are derived from the Islamic classification of the sciences into theoretical (nazarī), practical (‘amalī), and productive (șinā'ī), in addition to the essential field of women’s lives and histories.
We approach each of these areas through three distinctive approaches: normative, historical, and contemporary inquiries.
We welcome studies from any disciplinary lens and methodology. Provided they are committed to our principles.
Multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches are of particular interest, as they hold the greatest potential to translate our vision to reality.
Each year, Al-Mujadilah Research announces an annual research theme that fits within our main areas of focus and invites funding proposals for research projects that contribute to our current strategic research priorities.
2024: Muslim Women in Public Life: Possibilities & Challenges - 2024
Our inaugural theme explores how Muslim women have engaged in and contributed to society and public life from the inception of Islam to the present day. We will explore the various dimensions of women’s public involvement, whether as scholars, economic actors, patrons, or political agents. We will examine how Muslim women’s public roles have been shaped by cultural, religious, and political factors and thus undergone transformation in diverse historical and contemporary contexts. We are interested in how women navigated public life in varied ways, whether through negotiating their public presence, challenging the status quo, or by creating parallel women-only or women-led spaces and communities. Finally, we will explore how modern socio-economic transformations have shifted the experiences and public engagement of Muslim women, and what possibilities exist for their future.
