'Carefully historicized and brimming with nuanced analysis, this book shows the discursive and political strategies through which overlapping and at times competing women's organizations navigate a contested and complicated public sphere, as they seek to curate a gender emancipatory understanding of Islam. The major strength of this book is the way it presents a vivid picture of the quest for gender justice on the ground, leavened by such critical processes as the composition of gender-just nikah-namas. This important book will engage the interests of a range of scholars and courses on Islam, gender, South Asia, and Islamic law and society.' SherAli Tareen, New Books Network (www.newbooksnetwork.com)
Preface; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; 1. From legal binaries to configurations: Muslim women's rights activism in South Asia; 2. A multidimensional approach to Muslim women's activism: mapping the legal landscape in the city of Lucknow; 3. Destabilising gendered proprieties: Muslim women's visibility within the public space; 4. Vying for a gender just Islamic marriage contract: women's legal spaces; 5. Legal realities: doing gender justice from below; 6. Muslim women's quest for justice: theoretical implications and policy suggestions; Appendices: model-nikahnamas; Glossary; Bibliography.