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The Women's Convention and Malaysian Laws on Muslim Women's Rights: The Possibility of Harmonisation.

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Abstract

My thesis critically examines whether Malaysian laws on Muslim women’s rights are harmonious with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (Women’s Convention). I argue that the interpretation of ‘equality’ is the key to constructing the possibilities of harmonisation. In my conceptual analysis of rights in Islamic and international legal jurisdictions and declarations and in feminist discourse, I argue that both Islamic and international legal jurisprudences present rights as an instrument for equality among human beings. I argue that the principles of equality according to the Islamic jurisprudence and feminists’ standpoint are harmonious. I argue that Malaysia has taken appropriate measures, including laws, policies, administrative decisions and programmes, to eliminate women’s disadvantages based on the principal areas of concern and recommendations made by the CEDAW in its Thirty-Fifth Session. However, there are a few areas that need specific improvement for the betterment of the laws, policies, administrative decisions and programmes in securing Muslim women’s equality rights. I explore whether reservation of Article 16 (1) (a), (c), (f) and (g), pertaining to different entitlements to rights for women and men in Muslim marriage and family relations entered by the Malaysian Government to ensure the prevalence of Shariah practised in Malaysia, renders Malaysian Muslim women’s rights laws irreconcilable with the principle of equality underpinning the Women’s Convention. I argue that Malaysian laws may become harmonious with the Women’s Convention through a womanist interpretation of Shariah, and the empowerment of the rights-bearer within the Women’s Convention’s wider objectives.

Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024

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