An analysis of the human rights and gender consequences of the new South African constitution and bill of rights with regard to the recognition and implementation of Muslim personal law (MPL)
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Date
1996
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Western Cape
Abstract
Prior to the new constitutional dispensation in South Africa all women had identities of
race and gender imposed on them. With a new dispensation in place Muslim women,
however, still have to deal with identities attributed to them by religion and culture.
The author of this dissertation is herself a Muslim woman who has struggled to
reconcile her public life and "new found" equality with these identities. She found it
difficult to believe that Islam, the self same religion which had brought seventh-century
Arabian society out of its degenerating stupor, could be used to justify behaviour by
conservative religious authorities ( Ulama) in South Africa which deny women equality. 1
Earlier research2 partly allayed her suspicions and fears but did not lay them to rest
completely. The fact that South Africa was to face a human rights revolution which
would ultimately affect the lives of all her citizens for the better, sparked off a desire
within the author to establish whether it is not possible to reconcile the undeniable and
unalterable spirit of equality within Islam with the implementation of a reformed
Muslim Personal Law (MPL)3 so that women can enjoy the best of both worlds.
It
Description
Doctor Legum - LLD
Keywords
South Africa, Muslim women, Religious authorities, Women equality, Muslim Personal Law (MPL)