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369 Pages·2012·3.08 MB·English

Self-Determination
anD Women’S right S
in muSlim SocietieS

branDeiS SerieS on genDer, culture, religion, anD la W
SerieS eDitorS: liS a fiShbayn Joffe anD Sylvia neil
This series focuses on the conflict between women’s claims to gender
equality and legal norms justified in terms of religious and cultural traditions. It seeks work
that develops new theoretical tools for conceptualizing feminist projects for transforming the
interpretation and justification of religious law, examines the interaction or application of civil law
or remedies to gender issues in a religious context, and engages in analysis of conflicts over gender
and culture/religion in a particular religious legal tradition, cultural community, or nation. Created
under the auspices of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute in conjunction with its Project on Gender,
Culture, Religion, and the Law, this series emphasizes cross-cultural and interdisciplinary
scholarship concerning Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and other religious traditions.
For a complete list of books that are available in the series, visit www.upne.com
Chitra Raghavan and James P. Levine, editors,
Self-Determination and Women’s Rights in Muslim Societies
Janet Bennion, Polygamy in Primetime:
Media, Gender, and Politics in Mormon Fundamentalism
Ronit Irshai, Fertility and Jewish Law: Feminist Perspectives on Orthodox Responsa Literature
Jan Feldman, Citizenship, Faith, and Feminism: Jewish and
Muslim Women Reclaim Their Rights

Self-Determination
and Women’s Rights
in Muslim Societies
eDiteD by chitra raghavan anD JameS P. levine
branDeiS univerSity PreSS Waltham, ma SSachuSett S
Brandeis University Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Self-determination and women’s rights in Muslim societies /
edited by Chitra Raghavan and James P. Levine.
p. cm.—(Brandeis series on gender, culture, religion, and law)
Includes index.
isbn 978-1-61168-279-3 (cloth : alk. paper)—isbn 978-1-61168-280-9
(pbk. : alk. paper)—isbn 978-1-61168-281-6 (ebook)
1. Women—Legal status, laws, etc.—Islamic countries. 2. Women’s rights—
Islamic countries. 3. Women’s rights—Religious aspects—Islam. 4. Equality
before the law—Islamic countries. I. Raghavan, Chitra. II. Levine, James P.
k644.s45 2012
323.3'4091767—dc23 2012010139
5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Foreword ix
Introduction: Gender Equality, Change, and the
Quest for Social Justice for Women in Muslim Societies,
by Chitra Raghavan and James P. Levine xiii
Part 1: Politics of Change
1. The Politics of Abortion Policy in the Heterogeneous
“Muslim World,” by Anissa Hélie 3
2. Promoting a Violence against Women Law in Morocco:
Legislative Advocacy by Grassroots-level nGOs,
by Saida Kouzzi with Stephanie Willman Bordat 37
3. No Way Out: The Dual Subordination of
Muslim Women in Indian Legal Culture, by Aziza Ahmed 71
Part 2: Law and Culture
4. Reconsidering Talaq: Marriage, Divorce, and Sharia Reform
in the Republic of Maldives, by Anthony Marcus 95
5. Female Circumcision in Southeast Asia
since the Coming of Islam,
by William G. Clarence-Smith 124
6. The Moudawana and Rural Marital Relationships:
Reformed or Resolute? by Katja Zvan Elliott 147
7. Negotiating Female Genital Cutting (Sunat)
in Southern Thailand, by Claudia Merli 169
Part 3: The Law in Action
8. The Marriage Contract in the Maghreb:
Challenges and Opportunities for Women’s Rights,
by Stephanie Willman Bordat with Saida Kouzzi 191
9. Unsatisfactory Aspects of Women’s Rights
to Property in Uganda and Proposals for Reform,
by Anthony Luyirika Kafumbe 219
Part 4: Feminist Identities
10. Triangulating Reform in Family Law:
The State, Religion, and Women’s Rights in Comparative
Perspective, by Yüksel Sezgin 243
11. Contemporary Iranian Feminisms: Definitions,
Narratives, and Identity, by Roja Fazaeli 273
Epilogue 303
Glossary 307
Contributors 315
Index 319
Foreword
When John Jay College of Criminal Justice was founded in 1964 as a liberal arts
college for police officers, it would have been virtually unimaginable that the col-
lege would be sponsoring an edited volume on the topics of self-determination
and women’s rights in Muslim societies. Seen from this perspective, the ex-
istence of this book, artfully edited by James P. Levine, John Jay College’s
former dean of research, and Chitra Raghavan, a member of our Psychology
Department, is a testament both to the maturation of the idea of criminal jus-
tice education and the expanded reach of scholarly inquiry on the questions
of justice. In this sense, this book reflects the enduring power of the promise
inherent in John Jay’s mission of “educating for justice.”
Yet given recent events, a broader perspective seems relevant. Today, as we
are riveted by the forces of rebellion in the Middle East and northern Africa
and inspired by the role of women fighting for democracy, it is equally un-
imaginable that these topics would be considered anything but central to an
understanding of our modern era. The world is facing new challenges that had
not emerged on the research agenda a half- century ago. Although the role of
women in our society is a topic of timeless importance, the valiant struggles
for self-determination in the modern era and the complex struggle for gender
equality in the Muslim world combine to give scholarly treatments of women’s
rights in Muslim societies a vibrant immediacy. Likewise, although the rela-
tionship between different religious institutions and the ideals of a pluralistic
society is a topic that has occupied scholarly and public attention for centuries,
ix