Empowerment Beyond Income: Rural Housewives’ Experiences in Mosque-Based Economic Initiatives in Indonesia
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Abstract
Religious education and community empowerment are increasingly recognized as interconnected fields in addressing poverty and marginalization in rural contexts. In particular, mosque-based economic programs have emerged as faith-centered strategies to support women’s development, yet little is known about how such initiatives are experienced and internalized by participants. What remains unclear is how rural housewives interpret the meaning of empowerment when it is facilitated through religious spaces like the mosque. This study applies an interpretative phenomenological approach to explore the lived experiences of women participating in mosque-based empowerment programs in rural Indonesia. Using semi-structured interviews with twelve participants, the study uncovered four central themes: the mosque as a site of spiritual and economic renewal, the redefinition of womanhood, the role of spiritual capital, and collective empowerment through social belonging. Data were analyzed through iterative coding and thematic interpretation, revealing that empowerment in this context involves both material improvement and internal transformation. The findings suggest that mosque-based programs serve not only as platforms for income generation but also as sacred spaces where women reconstruct identity, agency, and social meaning. These insights extend current development discourse by highlighting the significance of faith in shaping empowerment experiences and affirm the value of phenomenological methods in accessing these deep personal narratives. The study offers theoretical and practical contributions for designing culturally rooted, community-led development initiatives and invites further research in comparative religious or cross-cultural settings.
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