Changing Gender Norms in Islam Between Reason and Revelation

Abstract

erlaubt die Verbreitung, Speicherung, Vervielfältigung und Bearbeitung bei Verwendung der gleichen CC-BY-SA 4.0-Lizenz und unter Angabe der UrheberInnen, Rechte, Änderungen und verwendeten Lizenz. Oemmelen, Hyunsuk Lee, Stephanie Kühn and all other friends who made this journey a wonderful experience for me. I am also grateful and indebted to my friend Ramin Amngostar for his support and his tirelessness in our long dis cussions over the years on my research. Finally, I want to thank my dear family, especially my parents, Ezat and Gholamreza; without their unconditional love, support and encouragement this journey could not have been possible. Contents Part One: Understanding Changing Gender Norms in the Modern Era 1 Conceptualizing Gender, Religion and Islam 2 Towards a Theoretical Model for Changing Gender Norms in the Main Streams of Islamic Thought 2 1 Religion in Sociology 2 2 The Dialectical Relationship Between Religion and Human Being: Pluralism, Rationality and the Crisis of Meaning 2 3 Islam and Structuration Theory: Between Individual Agency and Global Justice 2 4 Religion and Recognition 2 5 Theoretical Approach to Analysing Changing Gender Norms in the Main Currents of Islam 3 Methodology for Comparative Research on the Main Currents of Islam 4 Women's Rights in Iran and CEDAW: a Comparison 4 1 An Overview on the History of Women's Rights in Iran 4 2 The Emergence of CEDAW as a Global Norm of Gender Justice 4 3 Women's Rights in the Current Laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Comparison with CEDAW 5 Three Streams of Thought in the Near East and Iran and Their Views on Women's Rights 5 1 Women's Position in Diverse Currents of Islamic and Secular Thought in the Near East: the State of Research 5 2 Some Aspects of the Historical Development of the Islamic Mu'tazili and Ash'ari Schools 9 Changing Gender Norms in the Dialectical Relationship Between Revelation and Human Reason

Do Religious People Have More Children? The Effect of Religious Affiliation and Religiosity on Fertility

“…Therefore, the way individuals interpret the meaning of religion might affect how they interpret Islamic values on fertility, namely by rationalizing their decision in limiting the number of children they want to have. This is in line with the reformist perspective of Islam, which has played an important role in changing gender norms in Islam (Bakhshizadeh, 2018). In relation to the minority status hypothesis, the statistical findings showed that Christians who live in Muslim-majority countries were more likely to have lower fertility (-0.41) than those living in non-Muslim majority countries.…”

“…These findings confirmed the theory that among Muslims, the perception of religion might affect attitudes and behavior related to life issues, including fertility. First, the conservative view of Islam considers Islamic values as God's revelation that cannot be freely interpreted (Bakhshizadeh, 2018). Those who emphasize the ritualistic and ideological aspects of Islam often fall into this category.…”

“…Second, the reformist view of Islam, which defines religion in response to modernization and globalization, is more open to the contextual interpretation of Islamic doctrines. Muslims in this category usually see the importance of individual agency and human reason (Bakhshizadeh, 2018). Therefore, the way individuals interpret the meaning of religion might affect how they interpret Islamic values on fertility, namely by rationalizing their decision in limiting the number of children they want to have.…”

From Iran to the Netherlands, and everywhere in between

“…This put an end to several women's rights achieved during the Pahlavi era. 96 While the reformist presidency of Khatami (1997Khatami ( -2005 had an eye for women's activism, the fundamentalist Ahmadinejad (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) and his traditional interpretation of Islamic law enforced new restrictive legislation on women's rights. 97 Despite abovementioned changes in the fields of education, natality, and marriage, gender inequality thus persisted.…”