Secularism

La laïcité est mise à l’épreuve dans plusieurs États d’Afrique subsaharienne qui l’ont gardé comme principe de gouvernance. Or sa préservation est importante pour les femmes, car elle permet de protéger leurs droits citoyens de toute intervention religieuse qui n’a jamais été aussi conservatrice et liée à la ‘droitisation’ complice du politique.

By: Abdel Rahman Urabi Date of publication 4 February, 2015

Muslim women's group Sisters in Islam has gained leave for judicial review of July’s fatwa declaring them ‘deviants.’ The case pits Sisters in Islam against the Selangor Fatwa Committee, the Selangor Islamic Religious Council and the state government in a dispute over the jurisdiction of religious courts.

Our era is marked by the rise of the religious-Right – not because of a “religious revival” but rather due to the rise of far-Right political movements and states using religion for political supremacy. This rise is a direct consequence of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism and the social policies of communalism and cultural relativism. Universalism, secularism and citizenship rights have been abandoned and segregation of societies and “communities” based on ethnicity, religion and culture have become the norm.