What was the significance of the Musawah Global Meeting in Kuala Lumpur from 13-17 February 2009?
The event brought together some 250 Muslim scholars and activists from 47 countries to launch the global movement. The participants shared scholarship, strategies and experiences in pushing for equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices.

What was discussed at the Global Meeting?
Why reforms to laws that bind, shape and affect the daily lives of Muslim families are necessary and possible. The Global Meeting section of this website contains some of the key speeches as well as summaries and photographs from the plenary sessions. You can watch the Opening Video and the Closing Video on YouTube as well.

Why do we need Muslim family laws to be reformed?
While the world today regards women's rights as an integral part of human rights, there appears to be a disconnect between Muslim family laws and women's daily realities. These family laws also violate constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination and government commitments to international human rights conventions. Musawah contends that this discrimination is untenable and indefensible. Hence, the need for law reform.

What is an example of this disconnect?
Many women today are providers and protectors of their families. Yet family laws in many Muslim countries remain frozen in the classical legal framework of the providing husband and the obedient wife. A woman's right to education, work, travel or even to leave the matrimonial home is dependent on the husband's permission. Her right to custody of her children and to maintenance can be lost if she is disobedient.

Why have these problems not been resolved?
Muslim women who recognise these contradictions and seek to reform discriminatory laws and practices are often told that these are part of 'God's Law' and are therefore unchangeable. They are told that questions, challenges or demands for reform run counter to the Shari‘ah and will weaken the faith of Muslims.

So how is change possible then?
The reform of laws and practices for the benefit of society has always been part of the Muslim legal tradition. Islam embodies equality, justice, love, compassion and mutual respect between all human beings, and these values provide us with a path towards change.

As a global movement, Musawah will galvanise the efforts of women's groups, human rights activists and progressive scholars who have worked for decades to bring an end to unjust laws and discriminatory practices in the Muslim world.

What are Musawah's objectives?

• To strengthen women's voices demanding equality and justice in the family at the national, regional and international levels;
• To build analysis and strategies that bring together scholarship and experience regarding Muslim jurisprudence, human rights principles, fundamental rights guarantees, and the lived realities of families today;
• To provide those advocating for rights in the family with tools and resources, including a Framework for Action; and
• To raise the visibility of initiatives advocating for equality and justice in the Muslim family.

What are Musawah's guiding principles?

• Equality, non-discrimination, justice and dignity as the basis of all human relations;
• Full and equal citizenship for every individual; and
• Marriage and family relations based on principles of equality and justice.

Who makes up Musawah?
The movement was initiated by Sisters in Islam and is led by an international committee of 12 scholars and activists who are from Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Egypt, Morocco, the Gambia, Nigeria, Iran, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Who are some of the thinkers behind Musawah?
Over 25 leading Muslim scholars and activists were consulted. Among them are Dr Muhammad Khalid Masud (President, Islamic Ideology Council, Pakistan), Dr Hashim Kamali (Director-General, International Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies, Malaysia) and Dr Ziba Mir-Hosseini (Research Associate, Centre for Middle Eastern and Islamic Law, School of Oriental and African Studies, UK). Musawah has also received the support of international networks working in the Muslim world, such as Women Living Under Muslim Laws, Women's Learning Partnership and Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality.

Who attended the Musawah launch in Kuala Lumpur?
Over 250 activists and scholars from 47 countries attended the event. Among the scholars delivering papers and leading workshops were: Dr Muhammad Khalid Masud, Dr Ziba Mir-Hosseini, Dr Sana Benachour from Tunisia, Kyai Hussein Muhammad from Indonesia, and Dr Abdullah Saeed from Australia.

Why is Musawah needed now?
In some countries like Morocco, Turkey and Tunisia, equality is legally protected and marriage is regarded as a partnership of equals. Many other Muslim countries are also moving towards equal rights for Muslim women. Building on the work done by scholars and women's groups over the past decades, Musawah will advance women's right to equality in Muslim family laws and practices at the national, regional and international levels.

What types of resources have been developed for Musawah?

• The Musawah Framework for Action was introduced at the Global Meeting. This is a conceptual framework that includes principles to guide the work of the movement, bringing together Islamic teachings, universal human rights principles, fundamental rights and constitutional guarantees, and the lived realities of women and men today.
• Wanted: Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family, the Musawah resource book of seven theoretical papers was also launched. These papers demonstrate the possibility of finding justice and equality for women within Islam, how reform and protection of rights are possible within Muslim contexts and how justice and equality are necessary, given the realities of women's and men's lives today.
• Home Truths: A Global Report on Equality in the Muslim Family is a compilation of information from 30 countries on why equality in the family is necessary and possible. The national profiles in this report, which are based on national reports submitted by NGOs and activists in these various countries, show how family laws affect men and women in profound and meaningful ways.
• The Musawah website, which contains resources on family law reform, advocacy strategies and information from over 30 countries, was launched.