The Social and Political Potential of Shia Muslim Belgian Women in the Capital of Europe

Brussels is a super diverse metropolitan city that counts 146 nationalities and 104 languages that are well spoken by its inhabitants. A quarter of the population is Muslim (230.000 ) and between 15.000 to 20.000 are Shi’ites. This is a small but important minority because recent conversions and migrations lead to an incessant increase of this number. Based on my doctoral research on Moroccan Belgian Shi’ites , this paper draws on old and new participant observation and semi structured interviews conducted from 2007 to 2010 and from 2013 to 2016. During this period I extensively visited two mosques that attract the majority of Shi’ites in Brussels. Besides religious centers, these mosques also contribute in developing social and political sensibilities, movements and parties. This paper investigates the origin of social and political potential of Shia Muslims in general and Shia women in particular and illustrates the aspirations and engagements of the social and political projects that Muslim Shia women in Brussels pursue.