Date: 2014
Type: Article
Women’s rights in Islamic Shari’a : between interpretation, culture and politics
Muslim world journal of human rights, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1-24[Migration Policy Centre]
MANSOUR, Dina, Women’s rights in Islamic Shari’a : between interpretation, culture and politics, Muslim world journal of human rights, 2014, Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 1-24[Migration Policy Centre] - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/39530
Retrieved from Cadmus, EUI Research Repository
This article analyses existing biases – whether due to misinterpretation, culture or politics – in the application of women’s rights under Islamic Shari’a law. The paper argues that though in its inception, one purpose of Islamic law may have aimed at elevating the status of women in pre-Islamic Arabia, biases in interpreting such teachings have failed to free women from discrimination and have even added “divinity” to their persistent subjugation. By examining two case studies – Saudi Arabia and Egypt – the article shows that interpretative biases that differ in application from one country to the other further subject women to the selective application of rights. Dictated by norms, culture and tradition rather than a unified Islamic law, the paper shows how culture and politics have contributed to such biases under the pre-text of Islamic dictate. As such, it proposes a re-examination of “personal status” laws across the region in light of international human rights norms.
Cadmus permanent link: https://hdl.handle.net/1814/39530
Full-text via DOI: 10.1515/mwjhr-2012-0006
ISSN: 1554-4419; 2194-6558
Series/Number: [Migration Policy Centre]
Files associated with this item
Files | Size | Format | View |
---|---|---|---|
There are no files associated with this item. |