Essay On Cultural Mediation

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The first global standard that should be looked at is “cultural mediation”. This term was coined by Abdullahi An-Na’im(An internationally recognized scholar of Islam and human rights and human rights in cross-cultural perspectives). This term means reinterpreting the available Islamic teachings and texts so that women’s equality may be understood in religious terms that are authentic and persuasive. How this helps is by recognizing that human rights are determined by their socio-cultural context. However, this process requires a search for local cultural sources of rights and an open discourse about the meaning and implications of the relevant cultural norms.
How Malaysia can comply with this standard of cultural mediation is to acknowledge the power behind the formation of cultural norms and its interpretation. This …show more content…

They also pointed out verse 4:129, which states, “You are never able to be fair and just as between women, even if it is your ardent desire,” this recognizes the impossibility of men treating all their wives equally and justly. These verses in effect express the Koranic view that polygamy is an occasional and circumstantially warranted responsibility, rather than an inalienable right of a Muslim male.
Moreover, it is frowned upon in the rest of the world. The ban on polygamy originated in the English Common Law. This is because English laws of marriage were of Christian origins which believed the marriage properly existed only between one man and and one woman. For example, a case in 1866 of Hyde v Hyde where an English court remarked that “the law of England was adapted to the Christian marriage, and it is wholly inapplicable to polygamy.” Anti polygamy laws are also in power throughout the United

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