Crossing boundaries : travel and Muslim women

The process of travel and of crossing boundaries and frontiers has long been a source of dispute and negotiation for Muslim women. Religion and culture often combine to create limited closed spaces where women are permitted to dwell and interact with others in a public sense. Moroccan sociologist Fatima Mernissi's research deals closely with the concept of gender in Islam and more specifically examines the idea of women crossing a variety of boundaries in Muslim societies and communities.1 Her work shares many parallels with the data gathered for the case study featured in this chapter based on Sakinah's (pseudonym) travel experiences. A series of ethnographic interviews were undertaken with Sakinah a twenty-eight year-old Muslim woman from Sydney on her experiences while travelling. Sakinah grew up in Singapore and immigrated to Australia at twelve years of age and recently spent two years living in the Middle East. Her experience links strongly to themes in Mernissi's research, particularly those of crossing frontiers and public and private spaces for Muslim women. In her sociological novel Dreams of Trespass Mernissi emphasises the importance of crossing boundaries: "As a child in a harem I instinctively knew that to live is to open closed doors. To live is to look outside. To live is to step out. Life is trespassing."2 Along this line of thought crossing frontiers and travel in general is still viewed by women as a way to reclaim power and personal freedom.