Transcript Women*s Rights and Marriage in Islam

Describe the basic rights and obligations of
women by analyzing the words of the basic
sources (in translation) to understand their
basis in Islamic law
 Explain the spiritual, personal and social
significance of the ideal of marriage in
Islam
 Analyze aspects of gender relations
according to the Islamic sources
 Compare the views of several twentieth
century writers on Islam and gender issues
based upon excerpts from their writings.

Muslim jurists have derived women’s
rights from the two primary sources of
Islamic knowledge, the Qur’an and
Sunnah, for the purpose of judging
individual legal questions and cases.
 You will be working with a partner to
connect the list of women’s rights to the
primary source quotes. There may be
more than one number for each right. BE
PREPARED TO EXPLAIN YOUR CHOICES!

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Rights are linked to obligations in the
Islamic ethical system. Using the primary
source quotes, infer what obligations
women have for each of the rights listed.
Are these obligations implied in the
primary source quotes?

What do the rights of one gender mean
in terms of obligations on the persons
related to or married to a Muslim
woman?

What do these rights mean for
economic, social and political affairs in
society as a whole? What obligations fall
on society in terms of courts and judges
who would uphold women’s rights?

What customs or traditions in Muslim and
other countries might inhibit or impair
exercise of the rights and obligations
given to women under various belief
systems? Why do you think such customs
and traditions developed?
Take a moment to read from The Status of
Woman in Islam by Jamal A. Badawi
Keep the following questions in mind:
 How does the author characterize the
status of women in Islam? How do they
characterize the status of women in
contemporary Muslim countries?
 According to the author, what efforts are
Muslim men and women making to realize
social justice for women?
 How does the author contrast the efforts of
Western feminism with efforts among
Muslims on behalf of women’s rights?
Your homework tonight is to read 3 articles
which discuss the issue of hijab, or the
wearing of modest dress by Muslim women
as a civic and religious matter. As you read,
consider the approaches to secularism,
and assess which approaches to hijab are
more democratic, and which represent the
least government intervention in individual
religious liberties.
 In other words- put yourself in someone
else’s shoes and think about how you would
feel in the situation. You must read and
annotate, and turn in a 1 page journal
response to the articles.
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