US Scholar to Address Feminism Under Islamic Law

Doha, Qatar – March 19, 2017 – Distinguished scholar and Islamic and US constitutional law expert Asifa Quraishi-Landes will host a special session on women’s empowerment and rights under Sharia law, at Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q), on Wednesday, March 22. 

Quraishi-Landes currently serves as assistant professor of law at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she teaches courses in Islamic law and U.S. constitutional law. Her session, "How not to talk about Muslim Feminism," is the first of a series of interdisciplinary lectures, that are part of NU-Q’s newly introduced Middle East Studies minor. 

The minor at NU-Q provides students with a critical understanding of the region’s cultures, histories, societies, politics, intellectual contributions, and mediated representations. It also addresses global issues essential for understanding the region, such as decolonization, orientalism, and gender or religious revivals. 

Quraishi-Landes will discuss why the notion of feminism is so often associated with the West, and why this becomes problematic, particularly in the perception of Muslim women who are working for women’s rights from an Islamic perspective. 

She will also focus on ways that Shari’a law is mispresented and misused, and will address the reasons it is important to understand what women’s rights advocacy from a Shari'a-minded perspective could look like. 

Quraishi-Landes writes on comparative legal theory and Islamic law, and women in Islamic law. Some of her recent publications include "The Sharia Problem with Shari’a Legislation," and "What if Shari’a Weren't the Enemy: Re-Thinking International Women's Rights Activism and Islamic Law." 

She holds a doctorate from Harvard University Law School and has degrees from Columbia Law School, the University of California at Davis, and the University of California at Berkeley. She is also an affiliate of the Muslim Women's League, and past president and board member of Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. 

To join the session:
Date: March 22, 2017
Time:  12:00PM – 1:30PM
Location: Northwestern University, Education City, 1-300