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This book presents an empirical examination of consent-seeking among Pashtun Muslims in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), to determine whether cultural norms and beliefs have largely come to diverge from the principles of consent in Islamic law and jurisprudence. Is culture part of the 'inevitable decay' to which Max Müller says every religion is exposed? Or - if rephrased in terms of the research encapsulated within this book - are cultural beliefs and practises the inevitable decay to which Islam has been exposed in Muslim societies?
Drawing on interviews with Muslims in Pakistan and Australia, the research broadly broaches questions around the rights of women in Islam and contributes to a wider understanding of Muslim social, cultural, and religious practices in both Muslim majority nations and diaspora communities. The author disentangles cultural practices from both religious and universal legal principles, demonstrating how consent seeking in Pashtunculture generally does not reflect the spirit or the intent of consent as described in Hanafi law and jurisprudence. This research will be of interest to students and scholars across sociology, anthropology, socio-legal studies, and law, with a focus on Islamically-justified law reform in Muslim nation states.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- Part 1. Marriage, Culture and the Law.- 2. The Cultural Context: Pashtun Muslims of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.- 3. Marriage in Islam.- 4. Marriage Consent Operative in the Law.- Part 2. The Divergences Between Cultural Practice and Islam - 5. Researching Pashtun Culture.- 6. The Elements of Consent-Seeking in Pashtun Cultural Practice.- Part 3. Implications, Consequences and Possible Solutions.- 7. Understanding the Divergence: The Legal Implications of Divergence Between Law and Culture.- 8. Effecting Change: Bringing Cultural Practice and Legal Rights Together.- 9. Conclusion.
About the author
Hafsa Khan Pirzada completed her undergraduate in Law, before undertaking her doctoral research in the interplay between culture and Islam. She is currently a Research Fellow at Griffith University, Australia.
