Men in Charge: Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition

(Paperback)

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Description

Muslim legal tradition does not treat men and women equally. At the root of this discrimination lies a theological assumption: God has given men authority over women. This assumption is justified with reference to a Qur'anic verse (4:34) and is expressed in two key legal concepts that underlie the logic of most contemporary Muslim family laws. One, qiwamah, generally denotes a husband's authority over his wife. The other, wilayah, refers to the right and duty of male family members to exercise guardianship over female members and the privileging of fathers over mothers in guardianship of their children.

Reviews

'Men in Charge is bound to be a key scholarly text for anyone researching or studying law or Islam in general. It is a necessary book, one which is carefully designed to combat misconceptions and prejudice, and one which, most importantly, has a practical focus: all of the books contributors are writing for change. In reminding us that there is a difference between the Quran and the subsequent misogynist interpretations at the hands of certain actors (Shariahcourt judges, community leaders, imams, women in leadership positions who perpetuate patriarchal structures of power, etc), these authors pave the way for a brighter and fairer future for Muslim women.'

-- LSE Review of Books

A powerful new weapon for Islamic gender warriors: a book examining how a single verse in the Quran became the basis for laws across the Islamic world asserting Muslim mens authority and even superiority over women.

* Time, Carla Power *

Brimming with fact and insight,thesecritical and constructive essays by a global array of scholars and reformers focus our attention on how patriarchy functions in Muslim texts and contexts, and how it can be challenged. Their distinctive analyses converge and diverge, leading the reader to a new awareness of the range and power of Muslim feminist thought in the twenty-first century.

-- Kecia Ali Associate Professor of Religion, Boston University

Bar none, this is the best treatment of women and Islamic law that I have read in the past twenty years ... profound, eye-opening and even exhilarating. It is difficult for me to take seriously any student or scholar dealing with the subject of guardianship of men over women in Islam unless, or until, they have read and digested this book.

-- Dr. Khaled Abou El Fadl Omar and Azmeralda Alfi Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

'A highly stimulating collection of pieces by notable scholars and activists that critically examines the concepts of qiwamah and wilayah in the Muslim legal tradition, Men in Charge provides a complex and clearly articulated analyses of the problems with the dominant exegetical and juristic understandings of gender relations. This volume ventures beyond a mere critique; it offers significant alternative readings of Islams epistemological sources and delivers significant insights into gender relations from diverse perspectives including Islams spiritual tradition and the lived realities of Muslim women with a view to offering ethical and just alternatives to the dominant and traditional understanding of gender relations. Men in Charge is, without a doubt, an extremely valuable contribution to the discourse on gender relations, equality, justice and womens rights in Islam and among Muslims.'

-- Farid Esack Professor in the Study of Islam and Head of Department of Religion Studies, University of Johannesburg

Author Bio

Max Brooks is the acclaimed author of the two bestsellers The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z. He has also written for Saturday Night Live, for which he won an Emmy. He lives in New York City but is ready to move to a more remote and defensible location at a moment's notice.