In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Friday mosque attendance is still largely dominated by men, in line with common Islamic practice that does not obligate women to attend communal prayer. Yet an increasing number of devout Muslim women want to be present in mosques on the holiest day of the week, challenging long-standing cultural habits.
Bosnia and Herzegovina is a secular state where men and women are equal under the law and where postwar reforms have aimed to reduce gender-based discrimination and protect women from violence. Still, within some religious communities — Muslim, Orthodox and Catholic alike — conservative social expectations about gender roles remain strong. In many families, women continue to be seen primarily as mothers and caregivers.
A growing movement of Muslim feminists in the country is working to change that from within religious frameworks. Dermana Kuric, a sociologist at the University of Sarajevo, describes these women as advocating for rights and participation while engaging seriously with Islamic scholarship rather than rejecting the faith. Educated women are rereading religious texts and traditions, Kuric says, seeking interpretations that emphasize autonomy, responsibility and justice rather than control or male dominance.
Bosnian Muslim feminists are part of a wider wave of Islamic feminism that gained momentum from the 1980s onward. They approach the Quran from women’s perspectives, seeing the scripture as a potential source of empowerment. Zilka Spahic-Siljak, a gender studies scholar at the University of Sarajevo, has helped introduce influential voices to Bosnia by translating Fatima Mernissi’s The Forgotten Queens of Islam, and by promoting study of feminism and religion through a joint online school she founded with Catholic nun Jadranka Rebeka Anic.
These efforts are not merely academic. In 2023 Spahic-Siljak joined campaigns against domestic violence and criticized religious readings that have been used to justify husbands’ violence toward wives, notably certain traditional interpretations of Quranic passages. Her critique prompted a public theological response from influential imam Senaid Zajimovic, who signaled openness to reinterpretation and stressed that the Quran must not be invoked to legitimize male dominance or violence.
Small but visible changes have followed. Kuric points out that women’s absence from Friday prayers was never the result of a formal ban but rather of a male-dominated culture. In April 2026 the Islamic Community’s council for religious affairs in Zenica encouraged women to attend Friday prayers across the district. Two mosques in Sarajevo now explicitly welcome female worshippers, providing separate prayer rooms or balconies. These measures reflect a shift in practice, if not yet in all institutions.
The academic sphere is also evolving. While there are still no female professors of Islamic theology in Bosnian universities, more women work as research assistants in theology departments, and there is optimism that they will move into professorial roles over time. There are, however, no female imams in Bosnia and Herzegovina yet — a role that exists in some other countries and has produced high-profile debates abroad about mixed-gender leadership at Friday prayers.
Longstanding institutional arrangements shape the possibilities for change. The Islamic Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina traces its organizational model to the Austro-Hungarian era, which introduced a centralized structure and the office of Reisu-l-ulema (Grand Mufti). That legacy has left many leadership positions dominated by men. Political scientist Djevada Garic notes the imbalance: women occupy many teaching posts in Islamic schools but hold only a small fraction of seats in the Islamic Community’s parliament — 11 out of 87 representatives — and are largely absent from the highest decision-making bodies.
Still, there are signs of institutional openness. Current Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic has created a department dedicated to the advancement of women, and more women are gaining the confidence to run for positions within religious bodies. Kuric stresses that outright resistance among men to women’s advancement is not the main obstacle; rather, what is missing is a clear institutional strategy to integrate and promote women as believers, theologians and leaders.
For many involved, Islamic feminism in Bosnia is about expanding the space for women to interpret faith, participate fully in religious life and claim leadership without abandoning their religious identity. Progress has been incremental, but the combination of scholarship, public debate, supportive clerical voices and grassroots demand for inclusion is changing norms. As more women enter theological study, take part in mosque life and press for equal representation, the contours of religious practice and authority in Bosnia are slowly evolving.
This article was originally published in German.