9781440828805Dr. Saira Yamin’s contributed a chapter titled “Sharia Law and Its Implications for Women’s Status and Rights” to a new two-volume book: “Women, War and Violence: Topography, Resistance and Hope” by Mariam M. Kurtz and Lester R. Kurtz, editors.

Her chapter, which appears in volume 1, examines the relationship between Sharia or Islamic law and the status of women in Muslim societies. In the book, Dr. Yamin, explores how Sharia has been incorporated in legal and social structures and institutions and reflects on implications for women.

According to Dr. Yamin, the chapter “finds that the interpretation and uses of Sharia are not uniform across the Muslim world and that it has been used either as a tool for progressive reform or conversely for the suppression of women. It illustrates that in some Muslim societies where patriarchal norms and traditions are pervasive, women are subjected to injustice through judicial or extrajudicial means sometimes through misrepresentation of Sharia.

The chapter presents evidence to suggest that transformative change for women is possible through legal reform in compliance with Sharia.”

“Women, War and Violence: Topography, Resistance and Hope” is published by Praeger Security International, Santa Barbara, CA.   You can find it online at:

http://www.abc-clio.com/ABC-CLIOCorporate/product.aspx?pc=A4032C

The views expressed in this book are the authors’ and not necessarily the views of APCSS, U.S. Pacific Command or the U.S. Government.

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