Women In Religious Discourse After Mohamed Bin Salman Rise To Power: An Analytical Discription Of The Official Online Islamic Discourse In Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aims to examine women in the Saudi online official religious discourse after Mohamed Bin Salman’s rise to power. The study hypothesizes that the official religious discourse in Saudi Arabia after Mohamed Bin Salman is changing in line with the recent policy changes. The sample of the study contains 106 Fatwas and articles discussing issues related to women. Sample items are collected from 4 official online Islamic Saudi platforms. Then, the study provides a frequency based analysis to examine how women are portrayed from the official religious perspective. Subsequently, a thematic analysis of the state’s vision towards Saudi women is conducted. Both analysis results are compared to eventually examine the impact of the recent top down policy changes on the religious rhetoric towards women. Results indicate that the official online religious discourse is not in line with the state’s approach towards Saudi women.