Date of Award

2020

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Honors Thesis

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Sholeh Shahrokhi

Abstract

Muslim women’s reproductive justice has been formulated through strict applications and interpretations of religious and spiritual texts as well as the legal opinions of Islamic jurists and other trusted members of the Islamic community. I examine a conservative nation’s interpretation of these texts (Saudi Arabia) in comparison to a more liberal nation’s interpretations (Egypt), which are utilized to form policy on Muslim women’s reproductive justice. I also discuss research provided by the United Nations and other international organizations on the subject in each country. The question of justice has been an ongoing and controversial one, especially so for women. When societies create an image of justice, it often does not include voices of those outside of their limits, those that they may consider incomprehensible. The contrasting views between Muslim women and Western women has been the height of the conversations regarding topics of sex, reproduction, fashion, family, and more. Justice, in the case of these subjects, can be looked at as an umbrella term, including the idea of rights as well, for these multiple subjects in order to create a more inclusive view of what reproductive justice specifically looks like for non-Western societies.

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