Freedom in Migration: Yoruba Muslim Women, Digital Religion, and Gendered Agency in the Diaspora

Migration reshapes gender roles, religious practices, and family structures for Yoruba Muslim women in the U.S. diaspora. Social media often portrays them as liberated or rebellious, oversimplifying their lived experiences. This paper examines how these women negotiate freedom within their cultural and religious contexts through Islamic practices, digital faith networks, and communal spaces. Drawing on Saba Mahmood’s concept of ethical self-formation, I argue that they define freedom not by rejecting tradition but by engaging with religious devotion and moral agency. Talal Asad’s notion of discursive tradition shows how they reinterpret faith in response to migration. Birgit Meyer’s concept of religion as a mediated experience frames digital platforms—like Facebook and online Asalatu networks—as spaces of empowerment and reinforcement of patriarchal narratives. Using digital discourse analysis and ethnographic methods, this study highlights how Yoruba Muslim women actively shape their migration experiences, balancing autonomy, religious identity, and resisting digital stereotypes.