Press Release
The Women's Section in The Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir is to Host an Unprecedented International Women's Conference - "Women and Shariah: Separating Fact From Fiction"

On Saturday 28^th March 2015, the Women's Section in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir will be hosting an unprecedented International Women's Conference entitled, "Women and Shariah: Separating Fact from Fiction". This momentous event is to be conducted across various continents and will consist of gatherings of female opinion-makers held simultaneously in 5 countries: Palestine, Turkey, Tunisia, Indonesia and the UK. The conference will take place in electronic halls that will be united through live talks broadcast from each venue to the other locations, and will also include a talk delivered from Jordan. The event will also be broadcast live to people around the world. Attendees will include female journalists, politicians, academics, activists, lawyers, scholars, leaders of the community, and representatives of organisations. The conference is the culmination of a six-week intensive global campaign that has included an active social media campaign as well as engagement with the media internationally and discussions with women in countries across the world.

Topics for discussion at the conference includes: whether international or Shariah law should define the rights of women in the Muslim world; if Islamic feminism is the path to improving women's status; dismantling the media myths regarding women and Shariah; the nature of the Islamic social system; the position of women under the Shariah laws of the Khilafah "Caliphate"; and the role of women in creating true political change. The event will also highlight the rising support amongst Muslim women globally for the implementation of the Shariah as well as showcase the work of the women of Hizb ut Tahrir to establish the Khilafah "Caliphate".

This is an extremely timely conference considering the intense debates currently taking place in many Muslim countries, regarding whether the rights of women can be best secured under a secular or Islamic system. Additionally in recent years there has been a relentless attack from secular politicians, feminists, and various sectors of the liberal media against the Islamic social laws, including the Islamic dress, polygamy, inheritance laws, segregation of the genders, and Islamic marital rights and duties, which they have branded oppressive, unjust and discriminatory against women. This has raised discussions within many societies, East and West, as to whether the Shariah laws related to women need reform.  Such attacks have been bolstered by a mountain of lies generated against the Shariah by successive generations of secularists who have accused it of degrading, enslaving, and oppressing women. All of this has created much fear as to what the status of women would be under the Islamic rule of a future Khilafah "Caliphate" state. This conference therefore aims to dismantle the false narrative of women's oppression under the Shariah, and present a clear vision of the true position, rights, and roles of women as defined by Islam and implemented by the Khilafah "Caliphate". The event will also counter the accusations against specific Islamic rulings related to women, as well as explain the basis, values and laws of the unique Islamic Social System and its positive impact upon women, children, family life, and society overall.

Furthermore, following the annual session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women held this month where world leaders pledged to strengthen their efforts to implement the gender equality agenda of the 1995 Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action which marks its 20^th anniversary this year, our conference will contest the idea that the Western ideas of feminism and gender equality will lift women from oppression or secure for them good lives. Rather it will highlight how it is the laws, systems, and institutions of the Khilafah "Caliphate" upon the method of the Prophethood that offer solutions to the multitude of problems faced by women in the Muslim lands today. We call all those in the media who have a genuine desire to create a positive, secure and dignified future for women to attend and cover this important conference.

 Notes to Editor: The conference will take place at 9:30 am GMT on Saturday 28^th March 2015. A press conference open to male and female journalists will be held in Indonesia on the conference day at 3:30pm Jakarta time at IPB International Convention Centre, EF Meeting Room, Botani Square Building 2^nd Floor, JI. Pajajaran, Bogor - Jawa Barat 16127, Indonesia. However only women will be permitted to attend the event itself. Press accreditation please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. The conference can be watched live at: www.htmedia.info. Campaign page: www.facebook.com/WomenandShariah.

Dr. Nazreen Nawaz
Director of the Women's Section
in the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir