Musawah believes equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices are necessary and possible

Musawah-symbol

Musawah, which means ‘equality’ in Arabic, works for the advancement of human rights for women in Muslim contexts, both in their public and private lives.

Equality in the family is necessary for equality in society because it has a direct impact on women’s equal access to education, economic justice, health, political participation and other rights.

The time for equality and justice is now!

01 SHARING KNOWLEDGE

To build and share knowledge that supports equality and justice for women in Muslim contexts using a holistic approach that combines Islamic principles and jurisprudence, international human rights standards, national laws and constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, and the lived realities of women and men.

To build a critical mass of organisations, groups, and individuals that support equality and justice for women and girls in Muslim contexts.

To support the work of human rights mechanisms as well as groups and individuals working with these processes at the international, regional, and national levels to advance equality and justice in Muslim family laws and practices.

THEORY OF CHANGE

The Change We Want to See

Musawah envisions that by 2039, we will live in a world in which gender equality, justice and non-discrimination are embraced as inherent in Islam and reflected in laws and practices.

Public Space

Public Discourse on Religion & Lived Realities

Public Space

We collaboratively develop and facilitate access to multidisciplinary knowledge that promotes equality, justice and non-discrimination as inherent in Islam. Our aim is to empower our advocates and key constituencies with the knowledge, tools and resources to speak against injustice and the use of religion to discriminate against women.

Legal Space

Laws, Policies, Judicial
Practices & Procedures

Legal Space

We work with women’s rights groups and activists to document and make visible a body of evidence and information on the status and trends on family law reform. We provide activists and advocates with tools and arguments to strategically influence State institutions and policy-makers to enact, reform, implement and enforce laws and policies that uphold equality, justice and non-discrimination for women in Muslim contexts and to end discriminatory practices. 

Social Space

Social Attitudes,
Behaviours & Norms

Social Space

Challenge dominant patriarchal narratives and social expectations about gender in Muslim contexts by making visible the diversity of Muslim lived realities and interpretations of Islamic teachings. Amplify the voices of young people and emerging artists. Working with media actors, centers of learning, and key constituents in pop culture, we aim to highlight narratives of Muslim women having agency, autonomy, and playing active roles.

OUR 5-YEAR OBJECTIVE

To amplify our voice globally and accelerate our impact on the ground towards recognition that reform of discriminatory family laws and practices within Islam is possible by galvanizing collective action and garnering broad-based public support.

THEORY OF CHANGE

Our Strategic Initiatives

Facilitate the expansion of public discourses

We popularise the narrative on equality and justice in Islam to break the hegemony of patriarchal anti-rights forces on religious discourse, and show that reform of discriminatory family laws and practices is possible in diverse Muslim contexts. Working with key constituents in media, centers of learning, and mainstream pop culture, we build their knowledge and enable them to amplify our message and highlight realities on the ground.

We organise and mobilise efforts of individuals and organisations at the national, regional and global levels towards collective action for change.

We will build the movement through reciprocal and sustained relationships, and engagements in Musawah projects, including the Campaign for Justice in Muslim Family Laws.

We will grow the numbers and diversity of individuals and groups that are able to advocate for equality and justice, and engage with international human rights bodies and gender equality mechanisms to build global momentum on the urgency of promoting law reform, preventing rollbacks and enforcing rights already gained for women in Muslim contexts.

We facilitate access to existing knowledge about gender in Islam and create new knowledge, concepts and narratives about Muslim gender norms, status and trends in family law reform  in simple, accessible language and in a variety of formats (books, policy briefs, advocacy tools, videos and infographics). In collaboration with international scholars and activists, we build our claim to gender equality and arguments for reform using a holistic approach that combines Islamic teachings, international human rights standards, national laws and constitutional guarantees of equality and non-discrimination, and the lived realities of women and men living in Muslim contexts.
We build the capacity and courage of activists, decision-makers and rights groups at the national, regional and global levels to critically speak out on the impact of laws, policies and practices justified in the name of Islam and to promote an understanding of Islam that upholds equality and justice. We are working to increase access to the Musawah’s course on Islam and Gender Equality and Justice (I-nGEJ) by offering it on an annual basis and by designing shorter programmes to adapt to different audiences.

Browse our openings and join our team

Explore our
areas of work

Visit the Campaign for Justice site

Supporting the work of national advocates​

Knowledge Building

Facilitating and creating access to knowledge about women’s rights in Islam.

Capacity Building

Strengthening our sense of community and common purpose with training and outreach calls for advocates.

International Advocacy

Amplifying Muslim women’s voices and engagement at the regional and international levels.

Communications

Raising the visibility of our work and advocates' actions, and expanding public discourse.

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