ABSTRACT
Discourses about power and gender relations in Islam have been part of many debates over the centuries, but the development of a specific interest in learning about Muslim cultures in general and about gender dynamics in particular is part of the modern-day encounter of the West, Islam, and Muslim societies. It is apparent that the imbalanced and unequal relationship between men and women in Muslim societies is the reason for a lot of attention at different levels such as academic, social, and developmental. Many researchers and scholars claim that the imbalanced relationship between men and women and the lack of improvement in inequality in gender relations is a consequence of the influences of Islamic ideology. Nonetheless, restricting and using Islam as the only reason for discrimination against women is superficial at best and in many instances may be a major contributor to these inequalities instead of creating a way for challenging and removing them. Thus, it is imperative that gender relationship analysis be at the multidimensional and multidisciplinary level in order to reach an optimum level of understanding about gender dynamics in Muslim societies.
