Africa Table: Feminist Activism and Islamic Law in Somalia

Join the Center for African Studies for our weekly lunchtime lecture series.

Feminist Activism and Islamic Law in Somalia

Mark Fathi Massoud, Associate Professor of Politics and Legal Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz

Gender equality is a key principle of human rights. This talk shows how Somali women are using Islam's foundational sources -- the Qur’an (the holy book of Islam) and the Hadith (statements and actions of the Prophet Muhammad) to promote gender equality and the rule of law. This paper is based on field research in the autonomous region of Somaliland.BiographyMark Fathi Massoud is Associate Professor of Politics and Legal Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His first book, Law's Fragile State: Colonial, Authoritarian, and Humanitarian Legacies in Sudan (Cambridge Univ. Press) is based on field research in Sudan. Massoud holds a JD and PhD from UC Berkeley. He is a former Hewlett postdoctoral fellow of Stanford's Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law (CDDRL).For more on Mark click here.