Assignment for Section:
Friday, October 31, 1997
Islamic Law

Reading Assignment: Koran, 26-42, 60-78; Lewis, Islam, 2:33-49; Mi'yar, 9:261-266 (cp)

Three-step writing assignment:

  1. Make a list of the legal rights that are accorded to women in the verses of the Koran that you have read.

  2. What conclusions can be drawn from the fatwa in the Mi'yar about the extent to which women were able to exercise some of these rights in practice? What role does the legal system play in connection with these rights?

  3. Based on this evidence contained in the reading assignment, how would you assess the legal status of women in Islam?
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