Photo courtesy of Fer Ghanaa Ansari, Monami Fariha and Maddie Naisbitt
Across more than 45 countries, Muslim family laws continue to govern the most intimate aspects of women’s lives — marriage, divorce, custody, inheritance, and the right to live free from violence. In many of these legal systems, discriminatory interpretations of Islamic jurisprudence have been used not to protect women, but to limit them. The consequences are profound. Globally, nearly one in three women has experienced physical or sexual violence in her lifetime. In many Muslim-majority countries, those women face additional barriers when they try to seek help: laws that do not protect them, institutions that do not believe them, and communities that tell them their faith requires their silence.
For Zainab Ali Khan, Every Woman’s Coalition Lead, this is not an abstract statistic. Over more than 20 years working on women’s rights — including research into honour crimes in Pakistan and contributions to the drafting of the country’s Domestic Violence legislation- she has seen first-hand how Islamic law can be misread and manipulated to protect perpetrators rather than survivors.
“Patriarchal interpretations, rather than the core teachings of Islam, have often been used to justify inequality. Throughout Islamic history, women have been scholars, leaders, and influential voices who challenged injustice. Their contributions have always been part of Islamic civilisation.” – Zainab Ali Khan, Coalition Lead, Every Woman’s Coalition
Musawah, which means “equality” in Arabic, champions for legal reform by drawing on progressive interpretations of Islamic teachings, international human rights principles, and the lived experiences of women. Since its launch in 2009, Musawah has been building a movement to advance equality and justice within Muslim families through Islamic teachings.
Musawah has identified 12 principal areas of concern in Muslim family laws globally from the lived realities of millions of women and girls across more than 45 countries:
- Unequal divorce rights: In many Muslim family law systems, men can divorce unilaterally, while women must go through lengthy, costly, and often hostile court processes to obtain divorce — leaving them trapped in abusive marriages. Bahrain, Philippines, and Singapore
- Child and forced marriage: Child marriage remains prevalent across multiple Muslim-majority countries, driven by poverty, conflict, and patriarchal interpretations of religious law. In conflict-affected areas of the Arab region, child marriage rates are rising as families use marriage as a coping mechanism. Iraq, Mauritania.
- Polygamy without consent: In many jurisdictions, Muslim men can take multiple wives with minimal legal accountability, despite Qur’anic teachings that set strict conditions on the practice.
- Custody and guardianship discrimination: Women in many Muslim family law contexts are denied equal custody and guardianship rights over their children, particularly after remarriage.
- Inheritance inequality: Women in several jurisdictions inherit at half the rate of men, with few legal mechanisms to challenge this.
Musawah’s research team has spent years mapping Muslim family laws across more than 33 countries, documenting 12 principal areas of concern, from polygamy and divorce rights to child marriage and the right to inherit. That research feeds directly into Musawah’s international advocacy, including engagement with the CEDAW Committee and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as well as capacity building with local advocates who are driving reform on the ground.
On 28 July 2026, the Resilient Collective hosted Musawah for a faith-based showcase session designed not as a training, but as an encounter with a movement. Three representatives led the discussion: Fer Ghanaa Ansari, Musawah’s Senior Programme Officer for International Advocacy and an international human rights lawyer specialising in gender equality and family law reform; Monami Fariha, Musawah’s Capacity Building Programme Officer; and Maddie Naisbitt, a legal intern supporting policy research and drafting.
The session introduced coalition members to Musawah’s approach of combining Islamic scholarship, international human rights standards, and the lived realities of women, and how it has driven legal reform across more than 33 countries. The session also created a platform for coalition members working in similar spaces to reflect on how a faith-based lens might strengthen their own advocacy.
The Approach
Patriarchal interpretations, rather than the core teachings of Islam, have often been used to justify inequality. The core teachings of the faith, on justice, dignity, and equality, have always supported women’s rights. The work of Musawah is to ensure those teachings are reflected in laws and in lives.
The session highlighted three core lessons for coalition members:
- Gender justice and faith are not in conflict. Musawah demonstrates how Islamic teachings can actively support equality and challenge the discriminatory interpretations that have long been used to silence women.
- Knowledge must lead to action. Research, training, and international advocacy are not separate tracks. They reinforce each other. Reform requires all three.
- Collaboration is essential. Sharing experiences across countries helps advocates learn from successful reforms, avoid repeating what has not worked, and build stronger strategies for change.
For Zainab, the connection between faith, law, and lived experience is not theoretical. As a Pakistani woman and global activist, she has watched legal systems and social norms shape women’s experiences of marriage, divorce, and personal autonomy up close, including her own. After an abusive marriage, she divorced in 2007 and saw first-hand how the legal process often reduced women’s lived experiences to financial transactions. That history is part of why she welcomed the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s recent ruling affirming that marital gifts given to a woman at the time of her marriage remain hers alone, regardless of who provided them, as a step, she says, toward protecting women’s economic rights and autonomy.
“A feminist interpretation of Islamic jurisprudence is not a rejection of Islam; it is a return to principles of justice, equality, and dignity. Islam recognised women’s rights to own and inherit property, retain wealth, consent to marriage, seek divorce, and participate in society. These values are not new to Islam, they are deeply rooted in its foundations.” – Zainab Ali Khan, Coalition Lead, Every Woman’s Coalition
Her perspective reflects a broader truth that Musawah’s work embodies: the struggle for gender justice within Muslim communities is not an external imposition, but an internal reclamation, led by Muslim women themselves.
The session sparked reflection across the coalition not only for the knowledge it offered, but for the permission it gave them to approach their own work differently.
“It was useful to learn more details on how faith-based reasons are used to defend unacceptable practices for violence against women.”- Farwa Zafar, Pakistan
“I learned the importance of employing religious values that support justice and human dignity to promote gender equality, and I will apply this in awareness-raising and women’s empowerment activities within the community.” – Maraim Al Fartosy, Iraq
“Transformative learning experiences. It was insightful to learn from their stories, the work they are doing in capacity building women, and the strategy to achieve a conducive environment for women was remarkable.” – Georgina Mabezere, Zambia
The Musawah showcase marked a significant moment for the Resilient Collective. This session centred explicitly on the intersection of faith and gender justice. For coalition members navigating similar terrain in their own communities, Musawah’s example offers both a model and an invitation: to ground advocacy in the values of equality and dignity that have always been part of the faith and build the movement from there.
Learn more about Musawah’s work at musawah.org
Learn more about the Resilient Collective https://everywoman.org/the-resilient-collective/
