Women's Issues

Debunking the Myth that Islam Angels curse the woman who refuses her husband’s call to bed (2018).

Islamic Law and Muslim Women in America

This year promises to be an historical year for Muslim women in America. A collection of articles on Muslim women’s issues, written¹ from both theoretical and practical points of view, will appear. The collection is unique, because the women who contributed to it represent a microcosm of the Muslim community in America. No such book has ever been written before. It is the culmination of decades of effort at producing significant Muslim women’s writings rooted in the Qur’an and uniquely informed by the American experience.

Is Western Patriarchal Feminism Good for Third World/Minority Women?

The issue of conflicting rights raised by Susan Okin’s paper is of fundamental importance to any serious human rights discourse. Okin’s perspective, discussion, and proposal, however, all suffer from three fatal problems: (1) stereotypical views of the “Other”; (2) a conflation of distinct belief systems; and (3) conflict with American constitutional principles.

Debunking the Myth that Islam requires FGM

PAPER ABSTRACT In the case of female khitan (FGM), proponents of this practice rely on (a) a single verse in the Qur’an and (b) a number of hadiths attributed to Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him).  This study will show that the cited Qur’anic verse is inapplicable to the issue at hand and that the variously quoted hadiths are either unreliable or do not establish the desired result.  Furthermore, we shall establish that there is neither a valid reasoning by analogy nor consensus that would mandate female khitan. These facts together suffice to reject the argument that female khitan is required in Islam. However, our conclusion is further bolstered by the Islamic worldview and the basic principles of Islamic ethics.  These are clearly articulated in the Qur’an and hadith. By adopting this comprehensive approach, we signal our refusal to view the issue of female khitan as an isolated issue unrelated to the overall Islamic architecture of human rights and gender relations.  Instead, we place the question of female khitan in its proper context within the overall Islamic value system.  This comprehensive approach leads us to conclude with added confidence that Islam does NOT require female khitan. By Dr. Azizah al-Hibri, Ghada Ghazal, and Aljawharah Alassaf KARAMAH February 2018

Qur’anic Foundations of the Rights of Women in the Twenty First century

“The crisis of modernity in Islamic societies, generally, and of Muslim women’s rights, specifically, has led some individuals to wonder whether Islam has become outdated. After all, the Qur’an was revealed over fourteen hundred years ago to an illiterate man in the Arabian peninsula. How relevant could that revelation be today in a highly technological global village at the dawn of the twenty-first century? This article addresses this issue by starting from the premise that the Qur’an was revealed for all people, for all times and for all places. Consequently, it is as relevant today to the United States and Indonesia as it was relevant to the Arabian tribes of the past.”

Redefining Muslim Women’s Roles in the next Century

“The new millennium is blowing winds of change over the Muslim world. After centuries of relative seclusion, Muslim women have awakened to their critical role in society and are demanding their right to full participation in the public square. Patriarchal customs are being rejected, laws are being revised, and women are increasingly participating in various aspects of public life. Foremost in the struggle for greater roles in society is the revision of antiquated personal status codes (family laws) that have often deprived women of essential liberties. Revising these codes is not an easy matter because they rely primarily on religious law.”

Introduction to Muslim Women’s Rights

“The topic of Muslim women’s rights is vast; Muslim jurists have been writing about it for centuries. Because jurists are partly the product of their societies and these societies were and continue to be highly patriarchal, Islamic literature has been saturated with a patriarchal perspective on women’s rights. This perspective has become so entrenched that it has been rendered invisible. For most Muslims it no longer represents the ijtihad of individuals. Instead, it has come to be viewed by them as an ‘objective’ reading of Qur’anic text.”

Islam, Law and Custom: Redefining Muslim Women’s Rights

Muslim women’s rights have been the subject of a great deal of debate, most recently in Beijing and Huairou.¹ While many secular feminists have criticized patriarchal religiously-justified laws in Muslim countries, many Muslim women have defended Islam as the guarantor par excellence of women’s rights.

Muslim Women’s Rights in the Global Village: Challenges and Opportunities

In this age of information technology that shrank our world into a global village, it is fair to ask how this recent development has impacted Muslim women’s rights across the world. Having just traveled through nine Muslim countries, ranging from Pakistan and Bangladesh to the Gulf States, Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, I would answer that it is leading, slowly but surely, to reassessment and change.¹

An Islamic Perspective on Domestic Violence

In this Article, I will address the traditional Islamic perspective on domestic violence.