Progression of Faith

     In chapter 2 of Politics of Peity, I was particularly drawn to the character of Hajja Faiza. The text explains that she is a woman who is known for “both her scholarly erudition and for her dedication to providing lessons to women since the inception of the mosque movement approximately twenty-five years ago”. As I was reading of her, I was intrigued to understand just what would prompt her to become so active in the teaching of women and the mosque movement in general. Certainly there was some danger that she was inherently placing herself in by taking a role in the forefront of this movement. Therefore, what could have prompted her to take this risk? Could it have been her desire to see the progression and “secularization” of the Islamic faith? But for that matter, is this secularization really a good thing? In the perception of Hajja Samira, this secularization is causing a transformation of popular religiosity that may not necessarily be desirable. Her quote regarding this particularly resonated with me. She states, “the difficult question that confronts us today as Muslims is how to make our daily lives congruent with our religion, while at the same time moving forward with the world, especially given that the present period is one of great change and transformation”. I find this process of how the progression of society and the progression of religion in relationship to society to be particularly interesting, especially for religions that are rooted in traditions of the past. Is it possible for these two movements to coincide? Or at some point will one movement dominate? And if so, what factors would determine which movement that would be?