Class Struggle and the Constitution of Religious Communities

 Salafism is a conservative movement within Sunni Islam, and Salafists are a group that relies on the literal interpretation of the Quran, the Sunna, and the consensus of the Salaf. Women within Salafism are deemed ignorant, weak, and unfit for participation in social life. Many Salafi scholars encourage the exploitation of women and use violence as the only means of control. Whereas this dynamic unfolds in many Muslim societies across the world and contradicts the teaching of Islam on the role and rights of women, we can spot some similarities between the women in the Salafi thought and Karl Marx’s theory on class struggle. I will be comparing the role of women in Salafi’s thought with Marx’s perceived role of the proletariat while highlighting the women’s autonomy over their bodies and earnings as dictated by the Shia interpretation of the status of women in Islam.