Mother, Martyr wife or Mujahida: 'the Muslim woman' in Danish online jihadi Salafism: A study of the assigned role of 'the Muslim woman' in online jihadi communication

The jihadi-Salafi woman is generally portrayed as excluded from the battlefield. However, studies on the issue are few, and in the Danish context non-existent. This paper therefore explores how three Danish so-called jihadi-Salafi groups construct the Muslim woman’s role in defensive jihad in their online communication. The paper is based on an open-source study of social media. It finds that while some Danish jihadi-Salafi uploads exclude Muslim women from combat, others construct defensive jihad as an individual obligation even for women. The paper proposes and reflects upon three conceptual types of online construction: “mother”, “martyr wife”, and “mujahida”.