Continuously Striving

Abstract

Engagements in Islamic knowledge search have proved an important aspect of the religious path for Muslim women worldwide. This article testifies that that is also the case for pious Danish Muslim women. Based on extensive fieldwork, it describes how pious Danish Muslim women make an effort to find time for Islamic educational engagements in an everyday life of other obligations to maintain a continuous commitment to learning about Islam, and it describes the various routes to knowledge that the women employ. Throughout, it is argued that temporal and social aspects are key to consider if we are to understand the engagement of the women. First, I show that everyday commitments and time management in relation to such commitments are key for understanding how Danish Muslim women’s engagement in Islamic education unfolds. Second, I consider the engagement as shaped by the women’s social embeddedness in an everyday life of different commitments and ambitions and as cultivated through social bonds.