Mona Samadi examines the sources of gender differences within the Islamic tradition, with particular focus on guardianship, and describes the opportunities and challenges for advancing the legal status of women.

This book is believed to be the first of its kind written by a renowned Muslim lawyer in the English language, and by an Arab author who is probably the leading authority writing in English in the subject of Islamic law (the Sharia), and modern Islamic legislation. There has long been a need for an objective study such as this dealing with the legal rights and obligations of women under the Sharia and under modern Arab Islamic legislation. Seen within the broad principles of Islamic law, the book examines the status of women with regard to marriage, the iddat, parentage and fosterage and custody, and fi lls an important gap left by recent and more general publications on Islamic law. The author has researched original Arabic and Islamic text books and reviewed legislation in the different Arab countries in order to present the most up-to-date information on the subject. It is hoped that this clear, objective account will dispel many of the commonly-held misconceptions about the status of Muslim women in the modern world. This book will provide an enlightenment and deeper understanding of the subject, not only for legal practitioners, but for all those concerned, or with an interest in the subject, particularly Muslim communities in non-Muslim countries, indeed non-Muslim women who may be, or indeed non-Muslim women who may be married to Muslims.

Gender equality is a modern ideal, which has only recently, with the expansion of human rights and feminist discourses, become inherent to generally accepted conceptions of justice. In Islam, as in other religious traditions, the idea of equality between men and women was neither central to notions of justice nor part of the juristic landscape, and Muslim jurists did not begin to address it until the twentieth century. The personal status of Muslim men, women and children continues to be defined by understandings of Islamic law codified and adapted by modern nation-states that assume authority to be the natural prerogative of men, that disadvantage women and that are prone to abuse. This volume argues that effective and sustainable reform of these laws and practices requires engagement with their religious rationales from within the tradition. Gender and Equality in Muslim Family Law offers a groundbreaking analysis of family law, based on fieldwork in family courts, and illuminated by insights from distinguished clerics and scholars of Islam from Morocco, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan and Indonesia, as well as by the experience of human rights and women s rights activists. It explores how male authority is sustained through law and court practice in different contexts, the consequences for women and the family, and the demands made by Muslim women s groups. The book argues for women's full equality before the law by re-examining the jurisprudential and theological arguments for male guardianship (qiwama, wilaya) in Islamic legal tradition. Using contemporary examples from various contexts, from Morocco to Malaysia, this volume presents an informative and vital analysis of these societies and gender relations within them. It unpicks the complex and often contradictory attitudes towards Muslim family law, and the ways in which justice and ethics are conceived in the Islamic tradition. The book offers a new framework for rethinking old formulations so as to reflect contemporary realities and understandings of justice, ethics and gender rights. "

This article discusses the challenges and opportunities for advancing women's rights through Islamic law using contemporary Morocco as a case study. Part I provides an overview of women's rights in Morocco including the historic 2004 Mudawana (Code of Personal Status) reforms. Part II discusses the social roles, cultural representations, and socioeconomic realities of Moroccan women, emphasizing the important role that Moroccan women have played in legal and social reform efforts through their participation in civil society. Part III discusses several legal strategies for advancing women's rights in Islamic states and assesses the strengths, weaknesses, and likely success of each approach. These strategies include implementing international law and secular reform, utilizing the Moroccan legislative process, reinterpreting the Qur'an and the hadith (the two primary sources of Islamic law), exercising ijtihad (resolving an Islamic legal issue through personal thought and reflection), and contesting the development of Shari'a. Part IV outlines the most promising strategy for advancing women's rights in Islamic states. This final Part discusses failed reform strategies, outlines an effective reform strategy, and concludes that women's rights are largely compatible with Shari'a provided the right social and political conditions exist.

The author seeks to correct the image of Islamic women's oppression by discussing their position in the home and in Islamic society at large.

Contesting Justice examines the development of the laws and practices governing the status of women in Muslim society, particularly in terms of marriage, polygamy, inheritance, and property rights. Ahmed E. Souaiaia argues that such laws were not methodically derived from legal sources but rather are the preserved understanding and practices of the early ruling elite. Based on his quantitative, linguistic, and normative analyses of Quranic texts—and contrary to the established practice—the author shows that these texts sanction only monogamous marriages, guarantee only female heirs' shares, and do not prescribe an inheritance principle that awards males twice the shares of females. He critically explores the way religion is developed and then is transformed into a social control mechanism that transcends legal reform, gender-sensitive education, or radical modernization. To ameliorate the legal, political, and economic status of women in the Islamic world, Souaiaia recommends the strengthening of civil society institutions that will challenge wealth-engendered majoritism, curtail society-manufactured conformity, and bridle the absolute power of the state.