**3. Method**

To answer our basic research question, a focus group discussion was conducted with 10 highly educated, working women, nine veiled and one non-veiled, who defined themselves as religious

<sup>1</sup> Derived from "trouble or going astray," the other meaning of the term, *fitna* [9], is a beautiful woman. It indicates the degree of beauty that prevents men from non-indulgence or a *femme fatal*e. *Fitna*, by the definition of a Muslim feminist, Kasım Amin, can be interpreted as the chaos that results from sexual disorder caused by women [10].

<sup>2</sup> In the traditional Islamic social system, women's education [11–13] and taking part in social life as professionals were not considered appropriate [8, 14, 15]. Their inclusion in other social and political activities was not supported. It has been argued that women are not competent in these fields [16]. The human roles of women who were completely integrated with their domestic roles [17, 18] were limited to bodily tasks based on only the reproduction of the bloodline, and their social acceptance was attributed to being obedient to their husbands [16, 19, 20]. This female identity constructed by male interpretations of the religion has encountered modern objections in recent decades [21]. Islamist women who argue that the limitation in question is not appropriate for Islam have struggled for existence in the visible areas of social life and contributed considerably to the reconstruction of female religiosity [22, 23].

<sup>3</sup> Veiling is based on the *Koran*, which supports the social separation of women and men [27, 28]. It means "curtain" or "a barrier in the spatial dimension" [29, 30]. Veiling is considered to be a form of cruelty that restricts women's freedom [31], but it is not always the result of coercion. It is known that Muslim women in some non-Muslim countries are veiled by their own preference [28, 32]. Muslim women consider traditional veiled dress as a reminder of a life that obeys the orders of the *Koran* and conforms with Muslim beliefs and values [33].

Muslims. Focus group discussions are "series of discussion that are carefully planned to obtain ideas about a predetermined subject in a moderate and non-threatening environment" [25]. During the focus group discussion, participants affect each other's feelings and ideas as a result of the mutual interactions and associations, thus allowing for a sufficient information flow. Using this method, researchers overcome various obstacles such as peer pressure, social approval, and likability, and they aim to learn about the real perceptions, feelings, and ideas of the participants [26].

The women who participated in the group discussion did not veil in the same way. Although it is possible to categorize participants' clothes such as topcoats, long skirts, jackets, trousers, and tunics, these clothes differ in tightness, wideness, length, shortness, fanciness, and simplicity. An unveiled woman who calls herself religious was considered to balance the program. It was realized during the group discussion that we were right about our predictions. This woman offered questions and points from different perspectives and contributed to the group discussion. Of the participants, one was divorced, and the others were married. Of them, five defined themselves as "students of Nur,<sup>4</sup> " three defined themselves as "sect members," and two did not define themselves as belonging to any religious group.

The women with whom we conducted in-depth interviews defined themselves as religious Muslims and defined as members of the İsmailağa Jamia.<sup>5</sup> We met with these women while preparing the book, *Çarşaflı Dindarlık* (*Veiled Piety*). Other meetings were conducted as part of this study, and participant observation supported the claims of the women. Participants veil themselves with a uniform black cloth that reaches from head to the feet and is called *jilbab*. The women were married. They had completed primary school and had children (one was pregnant).

In-depth interviewing, one of the most widely used research methods in sociology [25], is an effective method for obtaining information about individuals' experiences, attitudes, feelings, complaints, views, and beliefs [34]. The key purpose of in-depth interviewing is to enter the inner world of the individual about whom the researcher wants to obtain information and to understand their point of view on that issue [25, 35]. Defined as "a carefully planned series of discussions to obtain the perceptions of a predetermined issue in a moderate and nonthreatening environment," focus group discussions can contribute to obtaining information on the matter at hand [25] (**Tables 1** and **2**).
