# Muslim Women in Burkina Faso since the 1970s: Toward Recognition as Figures of Religious Authority?

- **Type:** Journal article
- **Authors:** Frédérick Madore and Muriel Gomez-Perez
- **Journal:** Islamic Africa
- **Volume:** 7
- **Issue:** 2
- **Publisher:** Brill
- **Date:** 2016
- **Pages:** 185-209
- **Language:** English
- **DOI:** [10.1163/21540993-00702001](https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-00702001)
- **Countries:** Burkina Faso
- **Project:** [Youth and Women's Islamic Activism in Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso](https://www.frederickmadore.com/research/youth-womens-islamic-activism-cote-divoire-burkina-faso.md)
- **Tags:** Burkina Faso, Muslim Women, Religious Authority, Gender, Media, Islam, West Africa
- **Web page:** https://www.frederickmadore.com/publications/muslim-women-burkina-faso-2016

## Reference

Frédérick Madore and Muriel Gomez-Perez. (2016). “Muslim Women in Burkina Faso since the 1970s: Toward Recognition as Figures of Religious Authority?” Islamic Africa 7 (2): 185-209. https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-00702001

## Abstract

This paper examines how visibility and legitimacy have been defined and achieved by Muslim women who have contributed to the development of Islam in Burkina Faso since the 1970s. We undertake a transversal study of the trajectories of women belonging to different cohorts of Arabic- and French-educated Muslims. In doing so, we highlight identity markers closely associated with key moments in their lives (activism through associations or personal initiatives, religious studies, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and media activities). Through the lens of performativity, we show how women have progressively gained visibility within the Muslim community. And although figures of religious authority remain uniformly male, women are increasingly able to claim legitimacy thanks to their flexible approach.

## Cited by

- Muriel Gomez-Perez, Bertin Yameogo (2024). [Women in Burkina Faso](https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.572). *In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024*.
- Muriel Gomez-Perez (2024). [Women and the Hajj in Senegal and Burkina Faso since 1980: Strategies, Initiatives, and Perceptions](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111341651-020). *In Rethinking the Anthropology of Islam: Dynamics of Change in Muslim Societies, edited by Katja Föllmer, Lisa Maria Franke, and Ramzi Ben Amara, 399-421. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024*.
- Katja Werthmann (2024). [Women and the City: Observations on Muslim Women's Lives in Kano (Nigeria) and Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso)](https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111341651-019). *In Rethinking the Anthropology of Islam: Dynamics of Change in Muslim Societies, edited by Katja Föllmer, Lisa Maria Franke, and Ramzi Ben Amara, 379-98. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024*.
- Laurence Jutras (2022). [Djinns, femmes et islam à Odienné en Côte d'Ivoire](https://archipel.uqam.ca/17137/). *Masters thesis, Université du Québec à Montréal, 2022*.
- Nelly Mwale (2022). [Media Representations of Local Muslim Associations' Acts of Charity in Zambia's Multi-Religious but Christian-Dominated Context since the 2010s](https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-01202003). *Islamic Africa 13, no. 1 (2022): 47-65*.
- Joshua Meservey (2021). [Salafis, Sufis, and the Contest for the Future of African Islam](https://www.hudson.org/node/44076). *Washington, DC: Hudson Institute, 25 October 2021*.
- Joseph Hill (2021). [Islam and the Question of Gender](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367144241-12). *In Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa, edited by Terje Østebø, 123-42. London: Routledge, 2021*.
- Aboubakar Sidiki Segda (2021). [L'influence du retour des scolaires burkinabè de la Côte d'Ivoire sur l'islam au Burkina Faso](https://web.archive.org/web/20250429100739/https://revues.acaref.net/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2021/06/18Aboubakar-Sidiki-Segda.pdf). *Les Cahiers de l'ACAREF 3, no. 6 (2021): 321-41*.
- Robert Launay (2021). [The Qur'an School and Trajectories of Islamic Education](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367144241-9). *In Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa, edited by Terje Østebø, 92-105. London: Routledge, 2021*.
- Ousman Murzik Kobo (2021). [Fayda-Tijaniyya and Islamic Reform in Twentieth- and Twenty-First-Century Africa](https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367144241-19). *In Routledge Handbook of Islam in Africa, edited by Terje Østebø, 206-22. London: Routledge, 2021*.
- Muriel Gomez-Perez, Cédric Jourde (2020). [Introduction to the Special Issue on Religious Entrepreneurship](https://doi.org/10.2979/africatoday.67.2-3.01). *Africa Today 67, no. 2-3 (2020): 3-15*.
- Clarisse Barbier (2020). [Social Exclusion of Older Mossi Women Accused of Witchcraft in Burkina Faso, West Africa](https://www.proquest.com/docview/2404648688/abstract/9C2DDFB3F064438BPQ/1). *PhD dissertation, University of South Florida, 2020*.
- Lassane Ouedraogo (2020). [Muslim Youth at a Crossroads: Media and Civic Engagement in Burkina Faso](http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou157547720848127). *PhD dissertation, Ohio University, 2020*.
- Nelly Mwale (2019). [The Nature and Significance of a Muslim Woman's Contest for Mayor of Lusaka, Zambia](https://doi.org/10.14426/ajgr.v25i2.17). *African Journal of Gender and Religion 25, no. 2 (2019): 63-85*.
- Hassan J. Ndzovu (2019). [Broadcasting Female Muslim Preaching in Kenya: Negotiating Religious Authority and the Ambiguous Role of the Voice](https://doi.org/10.14426/ajgr.v25i2.15). *African Journal of Gender and Religion 25, no. 2 (2019): 14-40*.
- Lassane Ouedraogo (2019). [Muslim Women and Pious Fashion in Burkina Faso as Identity, Pose, and Defiance](https://doi.org/10.1080/10714421.2019.1651154). *The Communication Review 22, no. 4 (2019): 271-95*.
- Muriel Gomez-Perez (2018). [Prêcheuses arabisantes à Dakar et à Ouagadougou : des logiques d'individualisation et d'individuation](https://doi.org/10.7202/1045130ar). *Anthropologie et Sociétés 42, no. 1 (2018): 205-26*.
- Mustapha Hashim Kurfi (2018). [Religion, Gender and Civil Society: The Role of a Muslim Women's Association in the Evolution of Nigerian Society](https://hdl.handle.net/2144/33130). *PhD dissertation, Boston University, 2018*.
- Rudolph Ware, Zachary Wright, Amir Syed (2018). [Jihad of the Pen: The Sufi Literature of West Africa](https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv2ks6zkw). *Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 2018*.

## Links

- [Source](https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-00702001)

## BibTeX

```bibtex
@article{muslim-women-burkina-faso-2016,
    title = {Muslim Women in Burkina Faso since the 1970s: Toward Recognition as Figures of Religious Authority?},
    author = {Frédérick Madore and Muriel Gomez-Perez},
    year = {2016},
    month = nov,
    abstract = {This paper examines how visibility and legitimacy have been defined and achieved by Muslim women who have contributed to the development of Islam in Burkina Faso since the 1970s. We undertake a transversal study of the trajectories of women belonging to different cohorts of Arabic- and French-educated Muslims. In doing so, we highlight identity markers closely associated with key moments in their lives (activism through associations or personal initiatives, religious studies, the pilgrimage to Mecca, and media activities). Through the lens of performativity, we show how women have progressively gained visibility within the Muslim community. And although figures of religious authority remain uniformly male, women are increasingly able to claim legitimacy thanks to their flexible approach.},
    doi = {10.1163/21540993-00702001},
    url = {https://doi.org/10.1163/21540993-00702001},
    language = {English},
    journal = {Islamic Africa},
    volume = {7},
    number = {2},
    pages = {185--209},
    keywords = {Burkina Faso, Muslim Women, Religious Authority, Gender, Media, Islam, West Africa}
}
```