Text

Women as judges

---

This Q & A booklet is written to illustrate the fact that in Islam, men and women are created equal, and that qualified women should be just as eligible as qualified men to be appointed to positions of leadership, including the office of judgeship. The appointment of women judges in Muslim countries remains a controversial issue, due to a general perception that such appointments might not be in conformity with the shari’ah. There is no clear nass or authority in the textual sources – i.e. the Qur’an and the authentic Sunnah of the Prophet (s.a.w.) – that allows or disallows women to be appointed as judges. Several juristic interpretations of these sources, however, discriminate against women, going against the spirit of gender equality that is clearly woven into the fabric of Islam. In Malaysia’s dual legal system, divided into the general civil courts and the Shari’ah Courts, Malaysian women have been appointed to serve as judges in the civil courts – in the High Courts since the 1980s and in the lower courts since the 1960s. The Shari’ah Courts only have jurisdiction over Muslims and its main area of jurisdiction is family law. In January 2003, the Malaysian Government made a decision to appoint women Shari’ah Court judges. In April 2006, the National Fatwa Council of Malaysia made a ruling that qualified women may be appointed as Shari’ah Court judges. In November 2007, the Perlis state government announced that it was ready to appoint its first woman Shari’ah Court judge. However, these policies have yet to be implemented and no women currently serve as judges in Malaysia’s Shari’ah Courts. Sisters in Islam (SIS) and other women’s groups have pushed for the appointment of women as judges in the Shari’ah Sisters in Islam WOMEN AS JUDGES Courts since the 1990s. To counter objections alleging that such appointments would be contrary to the shari’ah, SIS has embarked on a research project to put forward the following arguments in support of the appointment of woman as Shari’ah Court judges.i SIS research has shown that interpretations that discriminate against women were influenced mostly by cultural practices and values which regarded women as inferior and subordinate to men. This Q & A booklet is written to illustrate the fact that in Islam, men and women are created equal, and that qualified women should be just as eligible as qualified men to be appointed to positions of leadership, including the office of judgeship

---

Availability

KP.II.000220

KP.II BAD w

My Library

Available

Detail Information

Series Title

-

Call Number

KP.II BAD w

Publisher

Selangor : Sisters in Islam., 2009

Collation

41p. ; 20,5 cm.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

-

Classification

KP.II

Content Type

-

Media Type

-

Carrier Type

-

Edition

-

Subject(s)

Perempuan
Islam
Hakim

Specific Detail Info

-

Statement of Responsibility

-

Other version/related

File Attachment

Comments

---

You must be logged in to post a comment