Symposium in Sanaa on women in Islam

The women forum for studies and training in Sanaa has recently organized a symposium on the rights of women in Islam. It was one of four similar forums held during 2004, financed by the German establishment for technical cooperation ( GTZ).

Four work papers were submitted in the symposium, most of them concentrated on Koranic texts and " prophet's Muhammad's saying " which were misunderstood regarding issues pertinent to women. Other topics concentrated on the possibility of opening the door for further transparency in line with international changes.

The chairperson of the Forum, Souad al-Qudsi, said that the program which started in January this years and continues until its end has completed so far two training course. The first was on the vision of Islam on the rights of women, the second a course on skills, the third was an intellectual symposium on the rights in light of the Koranic texts and the Islamic jurisprudence.

Al-Qudsi stressed that the program aims at spreading awareness on the rights of women via a comprehensive Islamic vision and targets women preachers, journalists and lawyers in five Yemeni governorates.

On the theme of the last symposium which deals with the rights of women in Islam, al-Qudsi said that there are vast violations against the Yemeni women in a way that contradicts with the rights approved by Islam.

She explained that the main of these violations are reflected in the question of equality between the man and the woman regarding rights and duties and also violating women's rights to learning, work and intellectual property.