[law] feminist interpretations of religious texts

International: Feminism in the Muslim world

One of the most contentious issues within Islam today is the role of women in society. Conservatives endorse a narrow reading of Islamic texts to justify restrictions on women's mobility, legal rights and access to the public sphere, including health care, education and the workplace. Extremists among them use violence to impose their views. Moderate Muslims, on the other hand, find plenty within the Qur'an to support a full role and equal rights for women.

Interview With Ziba Mir Hosseini: Understanding Islamic Feminism

Born in Iran and now based in London, Ziba Mir Hosseini, an anthropologist by training, is one of the most well-known scholars of Islamic Feminism. She is the author of numerous books on the subject, including Marriage on Trial: A Study of Family Law in Iran and Morrocco (l.B.Tauris, 1993) and Islam and Gender, the Religious Debate in Contemporary Islam (Princeton, 1999). She is presently associated with the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand she talks about the origins and prospects of Islamic feminism as an emancipatory project for Muslim women and as a new, contextually-relevant way of understanding Islam.

Egypt: Women reciting Quran in spotlight

Egypt's women have already made inroads into several one-time domains of men. But a suggestion to allow women to recite Islam's holy book the Quran in public has triggered sharp differences among Muslim clerics in this country recently swept by a wave of Islamism.

International: Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures

EWIC is interested in inviting broad participation in the writing of Encyclopedia entries, including qualified graduate students.

Mondiale: Remettre en question la peine de mort

"La peine de mort: Elle fait partie de l’arsenal judiciaire dans certains pays musulmans. Or, dans le Coran, Dieu dit que celui qui tue un homme, c’est comme s’il tuait tous les hommes (Coran 5.32)."

Mondiale: "Islam conquérant ou Islam de savoir et de pensée libre"

La logomachie sémantique des groupes Islamiques politiques, puise dans la représentation linguistique de l’aube de l’islam conquérant ou moyenâgeux la plupart des symboles destinés à communiquer aussi bien vers l’intérieur que vers l’extérieur.

Turkey: Turkish theologians in radical revision of Islamic texts

Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.

International: Film: Irshad Manji's "Faith Without Fear"

"Irshad Manji is the internationally best-selling author of "The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim’s Call for Reform in her Faith". Through a new lens, this questioning Muslim takes a journey to reconcile her faith in Allah with her love of freedom."

Morocco: Islamic Feminism in Morocco

Islam and feminism are not incompatible according to Moroccan doctor and writer Asma Lamrabet.

International: "The right to change one's religion", by Shaykh Abdallah Adhami

Shaykh Abdallah Adhami, an Arab-American imam, considers whether from the point of view of Islamic law human judgement over "the private realm of apostasy" is possible.