Who Controls Women's Pilgrimage? Gender Justice and the Administrative Dynamics of Hajj in Turkey

Zahriani Anugerah Arman (Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli Üniversitesi)

AL-MAIYYAH: Media Transformasi Gender dalam Paradigma Sosial Keagamaan
Vol 19 No 1 (2026): AL-MAIYYAH

Women's participation in religious practices has become a critical issue in contemporary Muslim societies, particularly regarding how gender equality is negotiated within institutional and governance structures. Existing studies on women's Hajj participation have predominantly focused on theological debates concerning religious permissibility and male guardianship (mahram), while paying limited attention to how administrative systems shape women’s religious agency, access, and experiences of institutional dependency. This article examines the governance of women’s Hajj participation in Turkey by exploring how state-administered religious governance shapes gender relations through bureaucratic mechanisms.. Employing a qualitative socio-legal approach, this study combines policy analysis, institutional documents, and semi-structured interviews with female pilgrims and Hajj administrators. Drawing on feminist institutionalism and Foucault's concept of governmentality, the study demonstrates that contemporary Hajj governance in Turkey is experienced increasingly through administrative forms of regulation rather than explicit theological restrictions embedded in registration systems, quota allocation, digital platforms, and procedural requirements. The findings reveal that bureaucratic governance generates a dual dynamic: it expands women's formal opportunities to participate in religious practices while simultaneously producing new forms of institutional dependency. This study contributes to gender studies and the social scientific study of religion by showing that gender justice cannot be understood solely through formal equality, but must also consider substantive access, institutional accountability, and structural inclusion. It further highlights the need for religious governance systems that are more transparent, accessible, and responsive to women's diverse circumstances. The Turkish case provides broader insights into how modern Muslim states negotiate the relationship between gender, religion, and state authority in contemporary Muslim societies.