(THE CONVERSATION) Sharia is often portrayed as barbaric and particularly regressive in terms of women’s rights. Citing Sharia, lawmakers in some Muslim-majority countries have punished theft with amputation, and sex outside of marriage with stoning. Women have been also forced to stay in abusive marriages and flogged for defying Sharia because they were wearing trousers.
Commonly translated as Islamic law, Sharia is a broad set of ethical principles found in the Quran, Islam’s holy book, and in the teachings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is not a strict legal code, leaving it open to varying interpretations by governments and religious leaders.
Public outcry over Sharia has led to more than 200 anti-Sharia bills being introduced across the United States. The European Court of Human Rights has twice ruled Sharia incompatible with human rights. Conservative analysts have called Sharia the world’s “other pandemic,” a comparison to COVID-19.
However, many Muslim women do not regard Sharia as being incompatible with their rights. My research shows how women – typically small activist groups in many countries – are using Sharia to fight against oppressive practices.
I interviewed nearly 150 women’s rights activists, religious leaders, officials and aid workers over the past decade in Somalia and Somaliland, where more than 99% of the population is Muslim.
The region has suffered cycles of famine and drought, as well as a brutal dictatorship and civil war that led to the collapse of Somalia’s government 30 years ago and the split between Somalia and Somaliland.
I wanted to learn why women were demanding Sharia and whether Sharia could help rebuild societies after war. My book, “Shari‘a, Inshallah: Finding God in Somali Legal Politics,” tells the story of peace builders and peacemakers oriented toward, rather than away from, Sharia.
