Femin Ijtihad
A Legal & Literary Academic Initiative on Gender in Islam:
A Project For Afghanistan
About Femin Ijtihad
Femin Ijtihad (critical thinking of gender in Islamic law) aims to increase the accessibility of gender-neutral interpretations of Islamic law and inspiring stories about women in Islamic, Pashtun and Afghan Tales to grassroot organisations in Afghanistan.
FI aims to achieve that by producing:
a) A manual compiling what scholars have written about gender-neutral interpretations in Islamic law. The manual will also contain examples of legal reforms in Muslim jurisdictions in matters relating to women.
b) Story-books of a collection of Pashtun, Afghan and Islamic tales that portray women in a good light; as inspiring and empowering beings.
Alternative Website Address: www.fi-afg.org
For Afghan Women and Human Rights Organisations
The following are examples of types of products we could create for you. These were ideas brainstormed during a meeting with Afghan Aid, Oxfam, Womankind and Women for Women International:
1. For Micro-finance projects, we could create a leaflet/manual of stories of women in Islam, particularly female companions of the Prophet who were active in the public space. For instance we could use the story of Khadija, the Prophet's first wife who was an accomplished and wealthy business woman who employed the Prophet to work for her.
2. For Children, we could produce scripts for plays using stories in Islamic literature/traditions & Afghan/Pashto traditions about how the Prophet treated his wives and female companions, of how he cherished his daughter Fatima and interacted with his highly intellectual wife Aisha.
3. For Campaigning purposes, we could produce manuals on classical and contemporary gender-neutral interpretations of the Quran, Sunnah and Fiqh on a host of women's rights issues. This manual can also give examples of legal reform in other Muslim jurisdictions.
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.
Contact Card
Contact
Director
Natasha Latiff
natasha.latiff@gmail.com
External Liaison Officer
Tamara Last
tamara.last@warwick.ac.uk
Inter-branch liaison
Marge O Leary
feminijtihad.research@gmail.com
Singapore Project Coordinator
Nadia Ibrahim
nadia.bte.ibrahim@googlemail.com
New York Project Coordinator
Medina Del Castillo
feminijtihad.ny@googlemail.com
Literary Team Coordinator
Ilham Malik
feminijtihad.lit@googlemail.com
University Liaison Officer
Shavin Leau
massaelm@yahoo.com
UK Research Coordinator
Zahida Shah
New Exec Member
Juhana Begum