Family and Law in Islam

Abstract

Without fanfare, a significant conference on "Family and Law in Islam", took place at the Ramada Inn, Istanbul, May 17-21 1989. More than twentyfive invitees from Britain, Egypt, Hungary. India, Pakistan, the United States, and Grand Muftis of Syria and North Yemen attended the conference. Also attending were the essential support personnel of the Council of World Religions (CWR). and its Executive Director, Frank Kaufmann. The CWR, a subsidiary of the International Religious Foundation (IRF) did everything possible to make the conference a very rewarding experience for all participants. Unlike other conferences, only major assumptions and conclusions were presented by the authors to set the stage for discussion. To facilitate the discussions, the organizers had distributed papers a month ahead of time. A certain "pairing" was also attempted, but this was by no means exclusive, and a major part of the proceedings consisted of free-range discussions. punctuated by the Grand Mufti of Syria and his stories on topics ranging from camels to watermelons. reflecting on interconnections, between and relative importance of particular situations. Since the CWR plans to publish, in full or in part, contributions to this conference, and since these tend to be well documented and meaty. we will only provide here an idea of the flavor and scope of the topics and discussions. Mohsin Labban of Alexandria, Egypt was the first to discuss the spiritual and moral aspects of the Shari'ah concluding that a woman's fulfilment is in her inclination to possess. By learning to coexist with her husband's other wife or wives. she may overcome egotism. selfishness, and jealosy. Abdallah Nuruddin Durkee of the Darul lslam Foundation, defined secularity and secularism and showed that none of these institutions provide answers to problems facing a family. Then lmtiaz. Ahmad of Karachi University presented his paper on the role of family in Islamic society, upholding traditionaJ lslamic values and denouncing Western intrusions. Other participants from Pakistan were as varied as their assumptions. Abdul Rashid of Karachi University described the status of women in Islam, stating that there is nothing in Islam to bar a woman from being the head of the government, as is the case in contemporary Pakistan. Hassan Qasim Murad, also of Karachi University, discussed the question of equality and equal rights, contending that inequality of sexes, inferiority of woman to man, was written in the sacred texts, the ...