Muslim Women in Interfaith Relatinships
Muslim women in interfaith relationships
By Muneebah Dawson
2nd year UCT Social Science degree Student
Introduction
We are living in a world where religious peace talks are prominent. The walls of gender inequality are encouraged to be broken down. Tradition and culture is evolving. However; in the Muslim community I still find that women are struggling to find gender equality. Women are frowned upon when they enter into interfaith marriages. Love does not ask what religion you belong to. Following is my project and its findings on Muslim women in interfaith relationships and how they feel about the inequality of Muslim marriage rights in Islam.
Rationale for Research and Research Questions
I am a Muslim woman in an interfaith relationship and due to this; my father has turned his back on me. The reason why I will be addressing the topic of interfaith marriages, where Muslim women marry non-Muslim men sometimes in clear violation of what is generally accepted as Shari’a (Islamic Law), is around the fact that Muslim women are discriminated and most times denounced when marrying a non-Muslim man however; Muslim men are respected and encouraged for marrying a non-Muslim woman of the book or from the Abrahamic faith. Muslim women live in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies with varying degrees of social cohesion. Despite the equality, dictated in the written word of the Quran (Islamic bible) between men and women in Islam, this assignment will be addressing the practical inequality.
My main question and focus is to find out how Muslim women in interfaith relationships deal with the discrimination against them and to seek the truth of what the Quran says about this matter.
Literature Review
The literatures I have drawn on are two journal publications; ‘My Wife, the Muslim’, by Robert A. Rosenstone, ‘Can Islam Change?’, by Ziauddin Sardar, and one book; ‘The Position of Women In Islam’ by Mohammad Ali Syed.
The basic plot of ‘My Wife, the Muslim’
By Muneebah Dawson
2nd year UCT Social Science degree Student
Introduction
We are living in a world where religious peace talks are prominent. The walls of gender inequality are encouraged to be broken down. Tradition and culture is evolving. However; in the Muslim community I still find that women are struggling to find gender equality. Women are frowned upon when they enter into interfaith marriages. Love does not ask what religion you belong to. Following is my project and its findings on Muslim women in interfaith relationships and how they feel about the inequality of Muslim marriage rights in Islam.
Rationale for Research and Research Questions
I am a Muslim woman in an interfaith relationship and due to this; my father has turned his back on me. The reason why I will be addressing the topic of interfaith marriages, where Muslim women marry non-Muslim men sometimes in clear violation of what is generally accepted as Shari’a (Islamic Law), is around the fact that Muslim women are discriminated and most times denounced when marrying a non-Muslim man however; Muslim men are respected and encouraged for marrying a non-Muslim woman of the book or from the Abrahamic faith. Muslim women live in multi-cultural and multi-religious societies with varying degrees of social cohesion. Despite the equality, dictated in the written word of the Quran (Islamic bible) between men and women in Islam, this assignment will be addressing the practical inequality.
My main question and focus is to find out how Muslim women in interfaith relationships deal with the discrimination against them and to seek the truth of what the Quran says about this matter.
Literature Review
The literatures I have drawn on are two journal publications; ‘My Wife, the Muslim’, by Robert A. Rosenstone, ‘Can Islam Change?’, by Ziauddin Sardar, and one book; ‘The Position of Women In Islam’ by Mohammad Ali Syed.
The basic plot of ‘My Wife, the Muslim’
Bibliography: Interviews conducted Rosenstone, Robert A. My Wife, the Muslim, Antioch Review, Spring2005, Vol. 63 Issue 2, p234-246, 13p Syed, Mohammad Ali, The Position of Women In Islam’ Sardar, Ziauddin, Can Islam change?, New Statesman, 9/13/2004, Vol. 133 Issue 4705, p24-27, 4p, 1 Color Photograph