Both Muslims and non-Muslims see women in most Muslim countries as suffering from social, economic, and political discrimination, treated by law and society as second-class citizens subject to male authority. This discrimination is attributed to Islam and Islamic law, and since the late 19th century there has been a mass of literature tackling this issue. Recently, exciting new feminist research has been challenging gender discrimination and male authority from within Islamic legal tradition: this book presents some important results from that research. The contributors all engage critically with two central juristic concepts; rooted in the Qur'an, they lie at the basis of this discrimination. One refers to a husband's authority over his wife, his financial responsibility toward her, and his superior status and rights. The other is male family members' right and duty of guardianship over female members (e.g., fathers over daughters when entering into marriage contracts) and the privileging of fathers over mothers in guardianship rights over their children.

The contributors, brought together by the Musawah global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, include Omaima Abou-Bakr, Asma Lamrabet, Ayesha Chaudhry, Sa'diyya Shaikh, Lynn Welchman, Marwa Sharefeldin, Lena Larsen and Amina Wadud. CONTENTS Foreword Zainah Anwar Acknowledgements Note on Translation and Transliteration Introduction Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Mulki Al-Sharmani and Jana Rumminger Muslim Legal Tradition and the Challenge of Gender Equality Ziba Mir-Hosseini The Interpretive Legacy of Qiwamah as an Exegetical Construct Omaima Abou-Bakr An Egalitarian Reading of the Concepts of Khilafah , Wilayah and Qiwamah Asma Lamrabet Producing Gender-Egalitarian Islamic Law: A Case Study of Guardianship ( Wilayah ) in Prophetic Practice Ayesha S. Chaudhry Islamic Law, Sufism and Gender: Rethinking the Terms of the Debate Sa'diyya Shaikh Qiwamah and Wilayah as Legal Postulates in Muslim Family Laws Lynn Welchman Islamic Law Meets Human Rights: Reformulating Qiwamah and Wilayah for Personal Status Law Reform Advocacy in Egypt Marwa Sharafeldin 'Men are the Protectors and Maintainers of Women.' Three Fatwas on Spousal Roles and Rights Lena Larsen Understanding Qiwamah and Wilayah through Life Stories Mulki Al-Sharmani and Jana Rumminger The Ethics of Tawhid over the Ethics of Qiwamah Amina Wadud About the Contributors Index.