Femin Ijtihad

[Last updated on 23 November 08]

This is a new ad hoc project that we have available.

Introduction to FI
Femin-ijtihad is an academic initiative which intends to promote women’s rights and solidarity between genders in Afghanistan through the creation of:
1.       A manual on gender-neutral interpretations in Islamic law
And
2.      A story-book that inspires readers to embrace the practice of a gender-neutral Islam.
FI is doing what it is doing because we recognise the inaccessibility of gender-neutral interpretations of Islamic law in Afghanistan. Unlike the UK or many other industrialised countries, Afghanistan does not have the luxury of libraries, bookstores and easy access to Internet. This heavily impedes their ability to access materials that Islamic scholars have written about gender-neutral interpretations of Islamic law. What FI intends to do is to research, read and compile these interpretations as well as inspiring stories about how the Prophet treated his wives and women companions. If we could compile this into these two books, the manual and the story book, these books can then be used by human and women’s rights organisations in Afghanistan in their training, campaigning and education programmes.

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR?
Legal Team
We want to form a legal team to research gender issues in Afghan law and Islamic law. Our research will aim to compile gender-neutral interpretations of Islamic law proposed by scholars of Gender in Islamic law. We will also research into Islamic legal and gender history to extract out stories & traditions including those regarding treatment of women in the early Muslim communities and key female figures in Islamic history.
RECOGNITION OF FI’s WORK
FI is doing was acknowledged by the Clinton Global Foundation as one of the most dynamic student commitments they’ve seen in 2008. We were also featured in a magazine and a newspaper in Singapore just recently and have been invited to participate in the Global Equality Movement called Musawah in Malaysia next February.
FI , A GLOBAL PROJECT
FI has 4 branches. We operate in New York, home to many Afghan Americans. We also have a branch at Warwick as a Society and a Pro Bono Project. Just recently we set up a branch at the National University of Singapore Law School with contacts in the Muslim Religious Council of Singapore and the Reading Group comprising of well-read Muslims in Islamic Intellectual thought. Also this summer, The Afghan Women’s Network in Kabul assimilated FI into their programmes and is working closely with us.


Commitment Level

Varies. Amount of time spent on research to be determined individually.

Please visit www.feminijtihad.webs.com for more information

Email: [email protected] to join, or through the group at [email protected]