Sociolegal Issues on Women in Islam
The biggest challenge facing Muslim societies today is the challenge of
change. How does one reconcile the tenets of one’s faith to the challenge of modernity, to the challenge of changing times and circumstances? The reassertion of Islam that has gripped almost all Muslim countries has brought forth different levels of tension and competing ideologies within Muslim societies. What Islam, whose Islam is the right Islam? In this conflict, the status of women has often been the first Battle ground. The turn towards Islam is marked not by the liberating message of the religion that granted women the right to equality, to own property, to justice— rights considered revolutionary 1,400 years ago— but is often dominated by growing intolerance and repressive teachings and practices, particularly on matters involving women’s rights and fundamental liberties.
