Musawah believes equality and justice in the Muslim family are necessary and possible.

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We work for the advancement of human rights for women in Muslim contexts, in both their public and private lives. The time for equality and justice is now!

Our focus is the family because that is where many harmful practices of socialisation and inequality starts. Because family laws and practices are interconnected with all other aspects of society, injustices within the family affect women in many other areas, including dignity, personal security, mobility, property, citizenship, nationality, labour rights, criminal laws and political participation.

01 SHARING KNOWLEDGE

To build and share knowledge that supports equality and justice in the Muslim family 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.

نعمل على تهيئة وجود فعّال يجمع بين المنظمات والأفراد المستخدمين/ات لإطار عمل حركة مساواة، ونعمل على تمكينهم/ن للمشاركة في الخطاب السائد حول الإسلام وحقوق المرأة.
نعمل على دعم عمل آليات حقوق المرأة وحقوق الجماعات والأفراد العاملين/ات بتلك المجالات على المستويات المحلية والإقليمية والدولية بهدف تحقيق المساواة والعدالة في الأسرة المسلمة بالسياقات المختلفة

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

نعمل على نشر السردية التي تعكس قيم العدالة في الإسلام بهدف كسر هيمنة الفكر المحافظ على الخطاب الديني وتوضيح إمكانية إصلاح قوانين الأسرة والممارسات التمييزية في المجتمعات المسلمة المتنوعة. نحقق ذلك بإقامة التعاون مع شركاء محوريين في مجالات إعلامية مختلفة ومؤسسات تعليمية وصانعي المحتوى ضمن التيارات الرئيسية للثقافة السائدة، بهدف بناء المعرفة وتعزيز القدرة على نشر رسالة العدل وإبراز تجارب الواقع المعيش.

THEORY OF CHANGE

مبادراتنا الاستراتيجية

Facilitate the expansion of public discourses
We popularise the narrative on equality and justice in Islam with the aim of breaking the hegemony of conservative forces on religious discourse and show that reform of discriminatory family laws and practices is possible in diverse Muslim contexts. We will do so by working with key constituents in various media, centers of learning, and mainstream pop culture content creators to 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.

Explore our areas of Work

Supporting the work of national advocates

البناء المعرفي 

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

بناء القدرات

Strengthening our sense of community and common purpose.

مناصرة دولية

We amplify Muslim women’s voices at the regional and international levels.

Communications

Raising the visibility of our work and Advocates actions.