Beyond ‘Islam’ vs ‘Feminism’

Islamic feminism has gained currency since the 1990s and has become the label for a new brand of feminist scholarship and activism that is associated with Islam. But this article argues that the composite term ‘Islamic feminism’ has become so loaded with disputed meanings and implications, so enmeshed in local and global political struggles, that it is no longer useful in any kind of descriptive or analytical sense. I reflect on the term in the light of developments since the 1990s, and argue that the ‘war on terror’ has further complicated the situation. Alternative approaches to the study of women's activism are put forward, including the examination of the personal, sociopolitical trajectories of so?called Islamic feminists, in their own specific contexts. Such an approach to women's agency must be understood in an unfolding reality, in which both political Islam and international and secular feminism have manifestly failed in practice to secure justice for women and have lost credibility and legitimacy

How the Door of Ijtihad Was Opened and Closed: A Comparative Analysis of Recent Family Law Reforms in Iran and Morocco

This Comment compares the politics and dynamics of recent family law reforms in Iran and Morocco. In both countries, reforms have in effect crippled men\u27s privileges in marriage under Islamic law by restricting their unilateral and extra-judicial rights to divorce and polygyny. In Morocco, the 2004 reforms are radical in that they admit the principle of equality in marriage and cast classical Maliki School of Sunni law in a new light; the result of prolonged efforts by the women\u27s movement, these reforms were finally achieved by the intervention of the King who claimed the right of ijtihad as the Commander of the Faithful. The Iranian reforms, on the other hand, have been incremental, they retain the patriarchal provisions of Shi \u27a law, yet they are neither justified nor achieved through the exercise of ijtihad. This is ironic given that, since the 1979 revolution, political power has been in the hands of Shi \u27a jurists who claim that the gate of ijtihad is open in Shi \u27a law. This Comment explores the different configurations of internal and external political circumstances and their impact on women\u27s movements that led to opening the gate of \u27ijtihad in Morocco and closure in Iran.

Changing aspects of economic and family structures in Kalārdasht, a district in Northern Iran, up to 1978

This thesis is offered as a contribution to the ethnography of Iran. As such it is concerned with the description of some aspects of the economic and familial life in Kalardasht, a mountainous district in the Caspian provinces of Iran. It is concerned with the examination of the process of continuity and change in the economic and family structures in rural Iran and attempts to show how the structure of the family is changed by the involvement of the younger generation in an economy based on non-agricultural wage labour. The study is based on fieldwork carried out in four villages of the district from August 1977 to October 1978. One of these villages, Rudbarak, has experienced dramatic change, due to economic and administrative penetration of the region. The other three villages, due to their relative isolation, have retained their traditional way of life to a greater extent. A comparative dimension is inherent in the research sample: while analysis of the isolated villages provides some insight into the traditional economic structure and domestic organization, analysis of the rapidly changing village furnishes data on the areas of economic and familial life where change has taken, and is taking, place. The thesis is divided into two major parts. The first part offers an introduction to the villages under study and describes the traditional economy and recent changes in the economic structure. It illustrates the significance of external factors in transforming the socio-economic structure of the villages in the region; it also showns how over the past two decades the traditional subsistence economy of some of these villages has given way to wage labour based on non-agricultural activities. The second part deals with family organization and focuses on two particular aspects: marriage and the structure of the household. The study of changes in the traditional family in Rudbarak, and comparison with the three isolated villages, reveals important changes taking place in both the marriage system and the developmental cycle of the household. The new economic independence of young men. facilitated by the availability of non-agricultural employment, not only allows them a greater voice in the selection of their brides, but it also modifies traditional criteria in the evaluation of a· potential suitor and traditional expectations in regard to marriage transactions. The ideal and actual patterns of formation of domestic groups among different socio-economic sections are discussed and it is argued. that these various groups differ in terms of the realization of the ideal pattern. Further, the impact of socio-economic changes on the structure of the household is not uniform among the various socio-economic groups. However, the data from Kalardasht suggest that it is misleading to analyse the process of change in family structure solely. in terms of residential arrangements. For instance, the very fact that due to the availability of outside work, a married son now has the option of leaving the father's household has repercussions not only in the sphere of his relationship with the father but also on other interpersonal relationships within the household (e.g., mother-in-law and the bride)

DEVIANT POLYGAMY PRACTICES AND ITS IMPACT ON WOMEN AND CHILDREN: A CRIMINAL LAW ANALYSIS

Polygamous marriages can be carried out by first fulfilling the requirements as stipulated in the legislation. But in fact, there are cases of polygamous practices being carried out not in accordance with statutory regulations, and not obtaining permission from the Court, the practice of polygamous marriages is carried out secretly without the knowledge of the first wife and is carried out in sirri. The purpose of this article is to analyze the factors that led to the practice of polygamy in Notoharjo Village, Kec. Trimurjo Kab. Central Lampung, then the implications of deviant polygamy behavior on household harmony and whether deviant polygamous behavior can be punished. This type of article is qualitative, with a case study approach that is analyzed from a criminal law perspective. The primary data source for this article is the perpetrators of deviant polygamy. Data collection techniques through observation, interviews and documentation. The results showed that the factor of deviant polygamy was due to an affair that the first wife did not want to know about. The implications of deviant polygamous marriages are that they result in damage to harmony in the household, and deviant polygamous practices can be subject to criminal sanctions.Keywords: Deviant Polygamy, Implications and Criminal Sanctions

Marriage on trial. : Islamic family law in Iran and Marocco.

New Yorkxix, 245 p.; 22 cm

Criminalização da sexualidade : leis de zina como violência contra as mulheres em contextos muçulmanos

Este artigo é uma versão revisada de um capítulo publicado no livro “Control and Sexuality: The Revival of Zina Laws in Muslim Contexts”, organizado pela autora e por Vanja Hamzic (WLUML Publications, 2010).Publicado em português, espanhol e inglês.Título em espanhol: La penalización de la sexualidad : las leyes de zina como violencia contra la mujer en contextos musulmanes. -- Título em inglês: Criminalising sexuality : zina laws as violence against women in muslim contexts.Propõe um estudo sobre a criminalização, no contexto islâmico, de qualquer contato sexual fora do casamento civil, cuja principal categoria criminal denomina-se zina. Explicita o choque entre dois sistemas de valores e duas concepções de direitos de gênero provindos do direito internacional dos direitos humanos e da tradição jurídica islâmica. Observa o contexto histórico de mudanças nas políticas da religião, direito e gênero que conduziram ao ressurgimento recente de leis e punições de zina e examina essas mudanças no contexto da tradição jurídica islâmica clássica. Procura mostrar como as leis e punições de zina podem ser contestadas por fundamentos jurídicos e religiosos e como elementos essenciais da tradição jurídica islâmica estão em harmonia com o direito dos direitos humanos

Changing aspects of economic and family structures in Kalārdasht, a district in Northern Iran, up to 1978

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