This paper, derived from PhD research, focuses on understanding how self-identified religious feminists utilise social media platforms to engage in independent reasoning (Akou, 2010) to decolonise informal religious education and challenge the power structures from within and outside their communities. Data for the study were collected from three primary sources: asynchronous email interviews with Muslim feminists and their readers, and content from feminist blogs as well as discussions on feminist Facebook groups.

Through extensive data analysis, four key themes emerged, highlighting how feminists engage in decolonisation of patriarchally channelled education by addressing sources of oppression from within and outside the Muslim community:

           1.  Challenging patriarchal discursive power through the ideology of monotheism: Muslim feminists draw on the principle of Tawhid, the oneness of God, as a foundational ideology to resist patriarchal interpretations within Islamic discourse as taught to the community formally and informally. By emphasising the inherent equality embedded in monotheism, they challenge male-dominated structures and discourse that marginalise women in religious and social contexts. This theme relies on a theoretical framework that is based on the works of Islamic feminist educator, Amina Wadud and professor of communication, Professor Ananda Mitra.

           2.  Addressing systemic barriers and enabling empowerment through feminist interpretations of the Quran: Feminists place significant focus on studying and teaching alternative feminist interpretations of the Quran online. These reinterpretations directly confront and decolonise traditional readings that often perpetuate gender-based oppression, enabling feminists to reclaim their spiritual authority and redefine religious narratives surrounding women’s roles. This theme also employs a theoretical framework. This framework is based on the ideas of Professor Nancy Hartsock and Michel Foucault’s lectures about power.

           3.  Resisting societal and cultural constraints on women’s autonomy by disseminating feminist learning material: Through blogs and social media discussions, feminists challenge community norms that seek to regulate women’s bodies. They teach each other alternative scriptural interpretations that promote bodily autonomy and resist restrictive cultural practices enforced under the guise of religious duty. This category employs two theories in the conceptual framework to structure the discussion. The first is further application of Foucault’s concept of power, and the second is Judith Butler’s notion of performativity of gender.

           4.  Resisting intersectional vectors of colonial power: Feminists identify and critique multiple intersecting forms of power, including those stemming from European colonial histories and contemporary global politics, which simultaneously affect Muslim women (See Dhamoon, 2011). They examine how these vectors of power intersect with gender and religion to create compounded experiences of marginalisation. This category employs the theoretical works of several academics including Dr Jennifer Nash, Professor Nira Yuval-Davis and Dr Rita Dhamoon.

The research applies Alberto Melucci’s model of collective action theory, which includes five areas of inquiry, to understand how these themes inform and shape the collective efforts of Muslim feminists. Melucci’s model facilitates a comprehensive analysis of how these women collaboratively redefine informal educational spaces online and resist power dynamics by adapting and responding to the ‘digital culture’ (Campbell & Altenhofen, 2016; p.1).

A central finding is the crucial role of collective identity construction in the decolonisation process. Muslim feminists use online platforms to build a shared sense of purpose and belonging. 

In conclusion, the study highlights how digital spaces have become transformative sites for Muslim feminists engaging in informally educating themselves about religion. By challenging patriarchal norms, reclaiming religious narratives, and fostering collective identity, they actively participate in reshaping both their educational experiences and broader social discourse. This research underscores the importance of recognising the role of digital platforms as meaningful and impactful spaces where informal education can be decolonised as a form of resistance and empowerment.

This qualitative research employs Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) as its methodology, following Charmaz’s (2014) methodological foundations. These include concurrent data collection and analysis, theme development from initial data, inductive category creation, constant comparison of data, and the progression of categories into a substantive theory. Unlike deductive approaches, CGT is inductive, and the study began without a hypothesis, guided instead by four broad initial questions focusing on the identity, motivations, learning processes, and online activism of Muslim feminists. The research evolved as initial data analysis revealed themes pointing to the collective action of informal learning under a shared feminist identity. This led to more focused research questions exploring the processes behind informal learning, collective action, and the construction of a Muslim feminist collective identity. Concurrently, literature on collective action, feminism, collective identity, and online activism was reviewed to refine these themes and develop a theoretical framework. The framework facilitated the emergence of four focused themes, which were then synthesised into core theoretical categories. Data were collected using three methods to ensure triangulation and credibility: asynchronous email interviews, analysis of blog posts and articles (including Twitter accounts), and focus group discussions on Facebook Pages and Groups. This multi-source approach, described as ‘hybrid forms of sociality’ (Postill & Pink, 2012), provided diverse perspectives and enriched the research context. Initial data analysis identified ten categories, which were refined into four core categories through theme integration, emphasising knowledge production processes rather than solely feminist knowledge. The four core categories are: 1. Challenging patriarchal discursive power through the ideology of monotheism. 2. Addressing systemic barriers and enabling empowerment through feminist interpretations of the Quran. 3. Resisting societal and cultural constraints on women’s autonomy by disseminating feminist learning material. 4. Resisting intersectional vectors of colonial power. Unlike other qualitative methods that describe phenomena, CGT explains them by developing a novel theory. In this study, the emergent theory highlights how online Muslim feminists engage in informal learning, collective identity construction, and activism to challenge dominant power structures and foster feminist knowledge production. This approach contributes uniquely to understanding feminist online activism and collective action, enriching the discipline’s knowledge base.

This paper explains the collective efforts of online Muslim feminists as actions rooted in sharing of Islamic feminist educational material through social media networks. These actions are driven by shared religious principles that form the ideological foundation of collective action, shaping how Muslim feminists define and identify themselves. Online Muslim feminism represents a collective of individuals and groups united by the goal of achieving gender equality by decolonising informal education through social media. Their collective identity is an abstract representation of shared goals and mutual beliefs, often centered on reinterpreting Islamic scripture to highlight its egalitarian aspects. This identity construction serves as both a goal and an ongoing process within their activism. Muslim feminists uniquely challenge both the western colonial/imperial powers and the patriarchal structures within their own communities, distinguishing them as a significant group for study. While existing research often focuses on the content of Muslim feminism, assuming inherent solidarity among feminists, this paper delves into the process of how diverse individuals come together with a common purpose of sharing knowledge informally and to create a collective identity. It explores both the content of Muslim feminist actions and the mechanisms of collective identity formation. This research also addresses the resistance strategies of online Muslim feminists while examining the forms of power they confront. By analysing the interplay between action and identity, this study fills a gap in current scholarship, offering new insights into the dynamics of online Muslim feminist activism and their efforts to challenge intersecting forms of domination.

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