Men in Charge? Rethinking Authority in Muslim Legal Tradition Journal Article

Comprising a foreword by Zainah Anwar, Musawah’s director, an introduction by the editors, and ten chapters from ac ademics and activists of varied backgrounds, the book historicizes and prob lematizes the Islamic idea of qiwāmah (authority) and wilāyah (guardianship), among other legal patriarchal precepts. The book’s major success lies in covering several important layers of the myth of male authority, from the theoretical gaps in the notions of qiwāmah, wilāyah, and istikhlāf to a practical examination of the impact of these legal principles and proposals for new and creative approaches for fem inists to apply in their vision of a gender-egalitarian Islam. In her “Producing Gender-Egalitarian Islamic Law: A Case Study of Guardianship (Wilāyah) in Prophetic Practice,” Chaudhry writes how Muslim feminists and reformers can challenge forced marriages and increase women’s agency in marriage and divorce. 106), provides new avenues for re-examining Muslims’ relations with each other and with God. Concentrating on the family codes in Morocco and the United Arab Emi rates, Lynn Welchman’s chapter functions as a transition into the practical and legal adaptations of wilāyah and qiwāmah discussed in proceeding chapters. The last three chapters examine the practical impact of ideas of wilāyah and qiwāmah and their failure to speak to women’s realities as well as to pro tect their rights. g. , Mir-Hosseini and Sharafeldin) explicitly point out that the re forms of family laws in Muslim countries fail to acknowledge the very as sumptions of marriage posited by the Muslim legal tradition: that God placed women under male authority and that marriage is a contract of ex change and sale.