The movement of Muslimah Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (MHTI) against feminism: Organizational mobilization, gendered agency, and the reproduction of gender hierarchy

Muslimah Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia’s (MHTI) rejection of feminism presents a paradox: its organizational mobilization expands women’s agency in the public sphere, while its discourse and practices simultaneously naturalize domesticity, restrict women’s political authority, and reproduce gender hierarchies through religious legitimation. This study aims to reconstruct MHTI’s organizational development and mobilization from 2000 to 2017, analyze its construction of women’s domestic, public, and political roles, and explain how antifeminist discourse is transformed into collective action while reproducing gender hierarchies. The study employs a socio-historical approach that draws on primary and secondary sources, source criticism, Resource Mobilization Theory, and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis. The findings demonstrate that: (1) MHTI developed through organizational consolidation, ideological cadre formation, expanding social networks, media utilization, and public mobilization; (2) MHTI acknowledged women’s spiritual, moral, intellectual, and professional equality but designated domestic responsibilities as their primary role and restricted their access to governmental authority through religious legitimation; and (3) MHTI constructed feminism as part of Western liberalism, secularism, and capitalism while positioning sharia as an alternative system for protecting women. The study demonstrates that MHTI’s mobilization expanded women’s agency in the public sphere while maintaining domesticity, political restrictions, and gender hierarchies. Theoretically, it integrates Resource Mobilization Theory and Feminist Critical Discourse Analysis to explain the interconnections among ideology, organizational resources, networks, media, mobilization, and the reproduction of gender hierarchies. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of gender–religious literacy, constructive dialogue, and the promotion of critical, inclusive, and equitable women’s participation.