Muslim women's everyday religious practices in sustaining Islam Nusantara in Indonesia: A lived religion perspective

Studies on Islam Nusantara have predominantly focused on its historical development, religious institutions, and religious authorities, while limited attention has been given to Muslim women’s everyday religious practices in sustaining local Islamic traditions. This study examines how Muslim women’s everyday religious practices reproduce, transmit, and adapt local Islamic traditions, contributing to the continuity of Islam Nusantara in Indonesia. Employing a qualitative approach, the study uses qualitative document analysis of 18 scholarly publications selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected through systematic documentation and analyzed using Braun and Clarke’s Reflexive Thematic Analysis, with the lived religion perspective serving as the primary analytical framework. The findings demonstrate that Muslim women sustain Islam Nusantara through the preservation of local Islamic rituals and traditions, community-based religious education and da‘wah, and everyday spirituality. These practices enable women to reproduce, transmit, and adapt local Islamic traditions within familial, communal, and cultural contexts. Overall, the findings indicate that the continuity of Islam Nusantara is sustained not only through formal religious institutions but also through Muslim women’s everyday religious practices embedded in family, community, and local cultural life. Theoretically, the study extends the application of lived religion within Islamic Nusantara scholarship and enriches the understanding of gendered agency by demonstrating how Muslim women actively sustain local Islamic traditions through everyday religious practices.