Focusing on Muslim women in slums of Hyderabad (India) and taking comparative sample of women who are members of self help groups and those who are not, the article has examined the relationship between women membership status of self help groups and their political and legal empowerment. The independent sample t-test has provided that this relationship is statistically significant. Further the bivariate and trivariate analysis have provided that at low socio-economic status the association is substantially significant. The Power Relations Framework is used as a theoretical framework to evaluate the process of empowerment on the gradient of power dynamics.

Keywords: Muslim women; Slums; Political and legal empowerment; Self help groups; Pow