Islam and Women's Rights: Discourses in Malaysia

The mostly Muslim nation of Malaysia has always walked a fine line between protecting the rights of Malay women and acknowledging the role that Islam plays in the daily lives of its citizens. Yet many of the obstacles facing Malaysian society disproportionately affect women. There are two different and extreme sorts of discourses: one that strictly adheres to the classical Islamic tradition and the other rejects the mere notion of polygamy as they do not believe that Islam promotes any injustice and mistreatment towards them. This paper therefore engages in analyzing the two different discourses on Muslim women rights in Malaysia. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Academic World Education and Research Center.