Suchergebnisse

Agitation for women's rights in Iran is entwined with broader movements for freedom and reform that critique the Islamic Republic's shari'a law as discriminatory. Despite the foundation of these reform efforts in the social realities of contemporary Iran, anyone who critiques laws governing the rights of women is prone to the charge of insulting the sanctity and foundation of Islam and subject to harsh penalties. Reform efforts will be hamstrung until there is a foundation for open discourse and debate in Iran. Thus, human rights such as the right to freedom of expression and related rights must be seen as the fundamental basis for successful political and legal reform in Iran – whether that reform is based in liberal Islam or secularism.

A major feature of the rise of Islamism in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and parts of the West is the current rapid growth of a starkly repressive version of shari'a, Islamic law. In this book, noted human rights activists and scholars trace the growth of such law in Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Sudan, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia; document its threat to the status of women, religious freedom, and democracy itself; and suggest how the rest of the world should respond. Published in cooperation with Freedom House's Center for Religious Freedom