| 3 Modern Muslim Family Law in Comparative Perspective 47-126 4 Toward a Legal Methodology for Reform 127-166 According to an expert of discourse analysis the author conveyed MUCH about his actual perception about the related Islamic laws through the title page of the book, for example on the front cover there are showing 6 girls, 4 of them have head covering but 2 have not. If the left side of the page is analyzed there are 3 girls; first with a head covering, second one is without it the third one is also without it but is depicted as much more free without the legal Islamic obligations. These are not three girls but a single girl according to the discourse analyst. Whereas the other half is depicting the present scenario in which Muslim women are developing into or out of Muslim laws. Women are creating women and influencing each other too much without following any religious or moral ethics in Muslim countries, some are crying in their role and some are enjoining their statuses. But eventually women are going toward modernity by getting out of their true role prescribed by Muslim Laws. The black and white color stands for both Shiite and Sunni women. Abstract of the Preface Even in the modern era when new Islamic Republics and Muslim governments have been established, Islam continued to play its role in political and social developments. According to the reforms within Islamic framework women preserve and reflect Islamic identity. But there is a conflict between international standards of human rights and Islamic law because human rights activists argue that secular international law must be accepted as the highest legal standard whereas religious activists argue that man-made laws should not override divine revelation. In the contemporary Muslim world there are three approaches towards the practical application of Islamic law in the society: 1. Religious law is not sufficient to modern changes and requirements. 2. Literal interpretation of Islamic legal material is needed. 3. Basic Islamic principles should be implemented. The major goal of the modernization and development plans of the 1950s and 1960s was education and employment of women which played a |