Women's Rights and Islamic Family Law: Perspectives on Reform

Women's Rights and Islamic Family Law: Perspectives on Reform
ISBN-10
1842770950
ISBN-13
9781842770955
Category
Religion
Pages
300
Language
English
Published
2004-06
Publisher
Zed Books
Author
Lynn Welchman

Description

This volume explores the present-day realities of Islamic family law, with particular emphasis on the rights of women. Three contrasting country cases have been selected: Egypt, the most populous Arab state with a constitutional clause on the place of "principles of the shari`a" as the principal source of legislation; the West Bank and Gaza, family law here being a contested site between different visions of national identity in the process of trying to build a Palestinian state; and the United States, where some in the minority Muslim communities seek to regulate their family relations in accordance with "principles of the shari`a" within the context of a non-Muslim state applying civil law requirements to all family matters. A concluding study ranges further afield in order to explore the challenges and potential of "principles of shari`a" in advocacy on the question of violence against women.

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