Femin Ijtihad

A Legal & Literary Academic Initiative on Gender in Islam:
A Project For Afghanistan

What we do:


Project Organisation

Legal Team

We aim to produce a Manual. The scope of our work includes researching and/or compiling the following:

  1. Gender-issues and calls for reform in the Afghan Civil and Criminal Code
  2. Gender-neutral interpretations in Islamic law and legal traditions
  3. Traditions of the Prophet: the honourable manner in which he treated his wives and addressed his female companions
  4. Stories/folktales of key female figures in Islamic history
  5. Examples of legal reforms in matters relating to women in Muslim jurisdictions.

Literary team

We aim to produce a series of story-books (fiction). The scope of this team includes researching the following:

  1. How literature can be used to impact social reform
  2. The use of literary devices
  3. The use of plots and characters that are inspirational and non-confrontational. 
  4. Afghan stories, folktales, poetry
  5. Islamic stories, folktales and poetry
  6. Pashtun stories, code, folktales and poetry

Project Product: Form of Media
The delivery of our findings of gender-neutral interpretations can take the form of a book, leaflet, posters, audio tapes/CDs/radio (in the form of songs or story-telling) and online PDF documents.

Project Audience:
Our primary target audience are grassroots Afghan Human and Women’s Rights Organisations and Government bodies with local knowledge and access to the Afghan population. We hope that our product will be assimilated into their awareness, campaigning and training programs.

Topic Scope
Leadership and political participation, beating a disobedient wife, religious and spiritual responsibility, marital rape, female testimony, child custody, property and inheritance rights, rights in marriage, the right of divorce, polygamy, temporary marriages, sexual and reproductive rights, rape and adultery.

Commit to Women's Empowerment in Afghanistan

About

Femin Ijtihad works to assist Afghan Women and Human Rights Organisations in the research and production of information and educative materials on Gender in Islam/Islamic Law. 


Femin Ijtihad was founded by Natasha Latiff in 2007. It is now executed by a team of law students in Warwick University and has branches and independent committees attached to highly prestigious Universities in New York (NYU, Columbia and The New School) and in Singapore (National University of Singapore). 

Femin Ijtihad in Afghanistan

From August-December 2009, Natasha Latiff will be travelling to Afghanistan to perform a needs assessment, and speak to women's rights organisations in Kabul. At the end of the stay, FI will produce a report on the extent to which women's rights organisations utilise the Islamic framework to raise awareness, train and campaign for women's rights in Afghanistan.


The FI Team is in discussion with a number of Afghan Organisations regarding the products we could create for them using our research database.

Highlights

  • Nadia Ibrahim and Marge O'Leary  attended the Global Equality Conference, Musawah in Kuala Lumpur as representatives of Femin Ijtihad in February 2009.
  • Natasha Latiff and Tamara Last joined Bill Clinton, big thinkers and NGO's in the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference 2009 in Austin Texas in February.
  • Nadia Ibrahim travelled to Jakarta and Yogjakarta in Indonesia on a regional conference to conduct a study-visit of women's rights groups and NGO's promoting pluralism within Islamic thought.
  • Natasha Latiff, Tamara Last and Juhana Begum held a meeting with Womankind, Women for Women International, Oxfam and Afghan Aid to discuss how FI's products can be assimilated into their programmes.



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