110-090 Gender and Islam

This subject will explore gender and related issues in the Islamic cultural context. For this, it first reviews the theoretical formulations regarding the issues involved. Then it goes on to study and analyse relevant Muslim beliefs and practices. Writings of selected theorists of gender are examined critically. The issues involved are also studied in the light of the foundational texts of Islam to gain an understanding of Islamic beliefs and related positions. Writings by selected thinkers in the area of gender from the contemporary Muslim world are studied. Their views on prejudices against women, the circumstances within which gender-inequality may have emerged, and whether gender discrimination in Muslim societies is founded in the religious, cultural or meta-cultural spheres are analysed.