Reconceptualising 'honour' for Muslim Women: perceptions, praxis and new modalities

Honour is a term readily associated with Muslim communities within the contemporary period in reference to barbaric and primitive beliefs and praxes that have a detrimental impact upon Muslim women. This thesis sets out to examine and critique the contemporary concept of honour within Muslim communities, alongside Western portrayals of these honour codes. It sets out to uncover the implications of these beliefs and praxes on the lives of Muslim women, through an in-depth critique of the notion of honour. This thesis critiques the double patriarchy that Muslim women face in the name of honour. Internally, within Muslim communities, manipulation subsists in the patriarchal conceptions and implementations of honour. Externally, the orientalist and colonial current day Islamophobic ideological project and its related systems utilise the concept of honour to weaponise ‘the Muslim woman’ and make claims on her behalf, rejecting her agency and humanity. To dismantle these two dominant patriarchal exploitations of women in the name of honour, this thesis returns to the primary sources of authority, the Qur’an and sunna, to uncover its egalitarian and gender-neutral conception of honour. Further, to consider the implementation of such an honour system, it examines the possibility of situating a concept of honour within the field of Islamic jurisprudence, particularly within the area of Maqāṣid al-sharī’ah. Ultimately this thesis presents an egalitarian, gender-neutral framework for the concept of honour derived from the primary authoritative sources. It calls for the abandonment of patriarchal, culturalist, and reductionist understandings of honour that impact the lives of Muslim women and conflict with the core values underpinning the Qur’anic and Prophetic conception of honour.