Performing Piety as Women's Empowerment

Integrating Maqashid al-Shariah and Weberian Social Action in Indonesian Majelis Taklim

Abstract

Women's access to public spaces in Muslim societies remains structurally constrained despite formal legal equality. Community-based religious institutions such as majelis taklim have the potential to bridge this gap; however, existing studies focus primarily on institutional outcomes while neglecting women's subjective motivational drivers. This study addresses this gap by asking: What intrinsic and extrinsic motivations drive women's participation in the Al-Muamalah majelis taklim in Makassar, and how can these motivations be understood through maqāṣid al-sharīʿah and Max Weber's theory of social action? Drawing on a four-month qualitative case study conducted between September and December 2024 in Tamalanrea, Makassar, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 10 active members and leaders, participant observation across 11 sessions, and thematic analysis using NVivo 14. The findings reveal two intrinsic motivational dimensions—self-actualization (knowledge acquisition, self-confidence, and emotional stability) and social connectedness (solidarity, friendship, and mutual support)—as well as two extrinsic motivational dimensions: neighborhood invitations and socially normalized traditions. From a Weberian perspective, these motivations reflect a combination of value-rational, affective, traditional, and instrumentally rational forms of social action. Applying maqāṣid al-sharīʿah, the study demonstrates that participation simultaneously contributes to the protection of religion (ḥifẓ al-dīn), life (ḥifẓ al-nafs), intellect (ḥifẓ al-ʿaql), and lineage (ḥifẓ al-nasl). This study introduces the concept of performing piety as a hybrid form of social action through which women express religious commitment while simultaneously achieving personal empowerment. This concept provides a more nuanced understanding that moves beyond the simplistic binary of piety versus agency while acknowledging ongoing debates within Islamic feminist scholarship. The study contributes an alternative Islamic normative perspective that complements secular approaches to motivation studies and offers an empirically grounded analytical framework for understanding women's empowerment in Muslim-majority societies.