While the topic of females fighting in jihad has been controversial and under-researched, religious writings do not expressly forbid women from fighting. Today’s radical Muslim groups are reconceptualizing women’s role in violent acts in order to legitimize female participation in battles and in martyrdom operations. This article focuses on examining the religious and legal literature pertaining to female violence participation and comparing the literature to the realities of modern warfare. An examination of the religious literature reveals opposition to women fighting in jihad and provides anecdotal evidence that women did not fight in pre-modern times. However, among the more radical literature is evidence that extremist Muslim groups have been attempting to legitimize female involvement in jihad. The author notes that the two countries where women’s involvement in martyrdom operations is highest, Chechnya and Palestine, are two of the most secularized and educated countries in the Muslim world. Overall, despite the Muslim conservative tradition that draws stark distinctions between gender roles, radical Muslim groups have actively created an intellectual and a religious case for female participation in jihad violence. Notes