In June 2016 IISR will present the book release of Asma Lamrabet, which carries the title “20 Questions and Answers on Islam and Women from a reformist vision”. For centuries, the question of “women in Islam” has been held hostage by two opposing but equally radical perspectives: one, rigid Islamic conservative; the other, western, ethnocentric, and islamophobic. 

In 20 Questions and Answers Asma Lamrabet criticizes with both perspectives from a reformist approach. She takes the propositions of these perspectives and goes back to the sources – the Qur’an and the Hadith – to analyse the different arguments and weight them against the interpretations. Questions the book deals with are for instance:

• Are men and women unequal in Islam?
• Does the Qur’an allow violence against woman?
• Is polygamy a marriage norm in Islam?
• How does the Qur’an address the issue of Muslim woman’s veil or “Hijab”?

Asma Lamrabet is director of the Studies and Research Centre on Women’s Issues in Islam of Rabita Mohammadia des Ulemas located in Rabat, Morocco since 2011.