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This dissertation explores the ways in which Americans constructed a public understanding about gender relations in Muslim countries from the Iranian Revolution through the post-9/11 period that cast Muslims as oppressors of women. It argues that such understandings significantly influenced U.S. foreign policy in recent decades. In the last quarter of the twentieth century, the degree to which women had or lacked rights became one barometer by which Americans judged Muslim societies. Journalists, scholars, women's rights activists, novelists, filmmakers, politicians, and others in the U.S. contributed to public debates since 1979 that cast Muslims as particularly oppressive of women. The pervasiveness of such views and lobbying efforts by women's rights activists pushed policymakers to situate the attainment of rights for women within the constellation of legitimate areas of policy concern regarding the Muslim world. As a consequence, by the 1990s concern for Muslim women's rights sometimes drove U.S. policy, as when President Clinton chose not to recognize the Taliban regime in 1998; at other times, rhetoric about the oppression of Muslim women became a political tool which policymakers could use to provide legitimacy and moral force for their interventions in the Islamic world. This story is both national and transnational and involves both state and non-state actors. / History

The issue of a Muslim woman‟s dress code has been debated for centuries. This is of great importance as it is widely used as a criterion to measure the extent of a woman‟s piety or devotion to Allah. A study of the religious texts on the issue is essential. Therefore, Qur‟anic text, Prophetic Traditions and Qur‟anic exegesis of both classical and modern scholars would have been used in determining the correct dress code for Muslim women. While all research indicates that women dress conservatively, in order not to attract the attention of the opposite sex. The extent to which a woman must be covered has not been agreed upon. Even if what has to be covered is established by scholars, the manner in which this is to be done and the type of colours and fabric to be used needs further clarification. The issue of the female dress code needs to be presented from a female perspective. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Islamic Studies)

This research critically analysed Muslim approaches to five women with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town focussing particularly on the approach of 'Positive Muslims' - an awareness-raising and support group for Muslims living with HIV/AIDS. The central question of this thesis dealt with the impact of the norms, values and practices of Cape Muslims on the approach of Positive Muslims to women living with HIV/AIDS. It is suggested that while norms and values articulated in religious texts inform the ideological approach of the organisation's AIDS prevention model. This is due to the pragmatic approach adopted by Postive Muslims which recognises that the articulated norms and values do not always conform to the practices of Cape Muslims.

<p>South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. However, the response against the further spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is being hindered by stigma and discrimination. In order to develop effective intervention programmes to control and reduce the further spread of the disease, it is first important to understand the nature of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and especially how people construct it. In the present study, the social construction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims was investigated because high levels of stigma were found in this group. This was fuelled partly by the belief that HIV/AIDS was not a serious problem amongst Muslims. Two focus groups were conducted, one among Muslim women only and the second among Muslim men only. The main aim of the study was to examine the perceptions of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims. The transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis to determine the themes that emerged from the research material. The main findings of the study included that Muslims&rsquo / religious identity/positioning was the most salient discourse that informed how they understood, made meaning of, and responded to HIV/AIDS. They engaged in various forms of stigma such as &lsquo / othering&rsquo / , and mediating factors of stigma included religious positioning. Stigma also served as a social barrier to VCT and disclosure of HIV status. However, supportive attitudes and behaviours were also evident. The findings yielded useful insights into possible elements of intervention programmes, both to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and also to encourage behavioural change in order to control and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in this community.</p>

This research critically analysed Muslim approaches to five women with HIV/AIDS in Cape Town focussing particularly on the approach of 'Positive Muslims' - an awareness-raising and support group for Muslims living with HIV/AIDS. The central question of this thesis dealt with the impact of the norms, values and practices of Cape Muslims on the approach of Positive Muslims to women living with HIV/AIDS. It is suggested that while norms and values articulated in religious texts inform the ideological approach of the organisation's AIDS prevention model. This is due to the pragmatic approach adopted by Postive Muslims which recognises that the articulated norms and values do not always conform to the practices of Cape Muslims.

<p>South Africa has the largest percentage of people living with HIV/AIDS in the world. However, the response against the further spread of HIV/AIDS in the country is being hindered by stigma and discrimination. In order to develop effective intervention programmes to control and reduce the further spread of the disease, it is first important to understand the nature of HIV/AIDS-related stigma and especially how people construct it. In the present study, the social construction of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims was investigated because high levels of stigma were found in this group. This was fuelled partly by the belief that HIV/AIDS was not a serious problem amongst Muslims. Two focus groups were conducted, one among Muslim women only and the second among Muslim men only. The main aim of the study was to examine the perceptions of HIV/AIDS-related stigma among Muslims. The transcripts were analyzed using thematic content analysis to determine the themes that emerged from the research material. The main findings of the study included that Muslims&rsquo / religious identity/positioning was the most salient discourse that informed how they understood, made meaning of, and responded to HIV/AIDS. They engaged in various forms of stigma such as &lsquo / othering&rsquo / , and mediating factors of stigma included religious positioning. Stigma also served as a social barrier to VCT and disclosure of HIV status. However, supportive attitudes and behaviours were also evident. The findings yielded useful insights into possible elements of intervention programmes, both to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and also to encourage behavioural change in order to control and reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS in this community.</p>

This thesis is a translation of a chapter that examines the role of Muslim women in politics during the early Islamic period and their engagement with religious and political discourses. This subject raises a combination of provocative challenges for Islamic discourse as Muslim women have had a complex relationship with their religious tradition dating back to the very inception of Islam. Despite Qur’ānic injunctions and Prophetic affirmations of the egalitarian status of Muslim women, social inequality and injustice directed at women remains a persistent problem in Muslim society. In the translated text Abū Shaqqah goes about re-invoking the normative tradition in order to affirm the role of Muslim women in politics. Furthermore the translation is prefaced by a critical introduction outlining the contours of the 20th century landscape, which attempts to describe the struggle of Muslim women in Abū Shaqqah’s time. / Religious Studies and Arabic / M.A. (Arabic)