Scholar to Survey Islamic Family Law

Emory University human rights scholar Abdullahi An-Na’im has received a $371,000 Ford Foundation grant to fund a global survey of Islamic family law.

An-Na’im will lead up to 20 scholars in exploring how Muslims reconcile the teachings of their faiths with the needs of their communities. They will look at the cultural and political factors that affect Muslim families and the laws that affect Muslim marriage, divorce, women’s rights and the custody of children.

An-Na’im expects the survey to produce some surprises about how Islam is practiced today.

“Personally, I challenge the assumption that Islam and secularism are incompatible,” he said. “This project will give us a chance to test our hypothesis.”