Co-hosting Public Lecture, Globalizing Equality and Justice in the Muslim Family: The Journey of Twenty Years (12 May 2025)

Outline of Lecture

The Muslim world is vast, with each society shaped by its own unique history and context. Musawah is one of the key movements that has emerged from the shared identity of being Muslim, while embracing the diversity of Muslim societies, to promote equality and justice within families. In this workshop, we will be joined by Zainah Anwar and Ziba Mir-Hosseini, who have been at the heart of Musawah’s activities since its inception and have played pivotal roles in its development. They will share insights into the origins of their ideas, the challenges they have encountered, and the innovative solutions they have implemented to establish Musawah’s work on a global scale. By reflecting on the journey of the past twenty years, we hope to collectively explore the prospects for the future.

Lecturers

Zainah Anwar is a prominent feminist activist and intellectual. She co-founded Sisters in Islam (SIS) in Malaysia and served as its founding Executive Director from 1999 to 2008. In 2009, she co-founded Musawah, a global movement for equality and justice in the Muslim family, and was its founding Executive Director until 2021. She now chairs the Musawah Board.
Ziba Mir-Hosseini is a Professorial Research Associate at the Centre for Islamic and Middle Eastern Law at SOAS, University of London. A legal anthropologist specializing in Islamic law, gender, and development, she is a co-founder of Musawah. Her work bridges scholarship and activism, challenging patriarchal interpretations of Islamic law and exploring the ethical and legal dimensions of marriage in Muslim traditions.