Muslim Women: Social Realities and Legal Rules

The Centre for Arab Unity Studies published the English book “Muslim Women: Social Realities and Legal Rules” by Sarab Hafez.

Contemporary Islamic thought must come to terms with an epistemological rupture brought about by the advent of modernity. The heights of classical Islamic civilisation have consequently receded into the background. Thus, for a new departure to be launched, rereading the past era should be carried out by deploying a new scientific methodology.

Different opinions have always been the mark of our Islamic culture. This was even more so at the time of its inception. In this respect, Islamic jurisprudence stands out as a representative of the same discursive tradition.

This book offers a methodical exploration of the two basic epistemological fields of Islamic religious sciences, Usūl al-Fiqh and al-Fiqh . It looks at how the science of jurisprudence evolved, transformed, and developed into differing thoughts that lead to a state of stagnation and extremism that Islamic societies, especially in the Arab region, suffer from today, thereby limiting and prohibiting attempts to further explore and expand Islamic thought.

The author here examines the concept of hijāb and related rules through the historical stages of the establishment of Islamic jurisprudence, taking into account its basic intellectual frames of reference, including Plato, who influenced the imams of Islamic Sūfism, and Aristotle, who affected the jurists, and how it evolved and differed through history.

This book is also available in Arabic version.