Family and Law in Islam Istanbul, Turkey Shawwal/16-18. 1409/May 17-21 , 1989

Abstract

Without fanfare, a significant conference on "Family and Law in Islam",
took place at the Ramada Inn, Istanbul, May 17-21 1989. More than twentyfive
invitees from Britain, Egypt, Hungary. India, Pakistan, the United States,
and Grand Muftis of Syria and North Yemen attended the conference. Also
attending were the essential support personnel of the Council of World Religions
(CWR). and its Executive Director, Frank Kaufmann. The CWR, a subsidiary
of the International Religious Foundation (IRF) did everything possible to
make the conference a very rewarding experience for all participants.
Unlike other conferences, only major assumptions and conclusions were
presented by the authors to set the stage for discussion. To facilitate the
discussions, the organizers had distributed papers a month ahead of time.
A certain "pairing" was also attempted, but this was by no means exclusive,
and a major part of the proceedings consisted of free-range discussions.
punctuated by the Grand Mufti of Syria and his stories on topics ranging
from camels to watermelons. reflecting on interconnections, between and
relative importance of particular situations.
Since the CWR plans to publish, in full or in part, contributions to this
conference, and since these tend to be well documented and meaty. we will
only provide here an idea of the flavor and scope of the topics and discussions.
Mohsin Labban of Alexandria, Egypt was the first to discuss the spiritual
and moral aspects of the Shari'ah concluding that a woman's fulfilment is
in her inclination to possess. By learning to coexist with her husband's other
wife or wives. she may overcome egotism. selfishness, and jealosy. Abdallah
Nuruddin Durkee of the Darul lslam Foundation, defined secularity and
secularism and showed that none of these institutions provide answers to
problems facing a family. Then lmtiaz. Ahmad of Karachi University presented
his paper on the role of family in Islamic society, upholding traditionaJ lslamic
values and denouncing Western intrusions. Other participants from Pakistan
were as varied as their assumptions. Abdul Rashid of Karachi University
described the status of women in Islam, stating that there is nothing in Islam
to bar a woman from being the head of the government, as is the case in
contemporary Pakistan. Hassan Qasim Murad, also of Karachi University,
discussed the question of equality and equal rights, contending that inequality
of sexes, inferiority of woman to man, was written in the sacred texts, the ...