The document summarizes an International Women's Convention held at the International Islamic University Malaysia in October 2012. The 3-day convention included conferences on women and economics, society, and rights. It also had grooming and legal aid sessions, and closed with a forum on Islamic feminism with panelists from IIUM and Sisters in Islam. The forum discussed whether a feminist group is still needed in Malaysia, and differences emerged between the views of Sisters in Islam and the moderator on interpreting certain parts of the Quran in modern contexts.

1. Day, XX Xxxxxx 20xx PP413/09/2011 (028690)
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Friday, november 30, 2012 DP413/09/2012 (030687)
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Do we
need a
feminist
group in
Malaysia?
By Noor Khairun Nisa Noor Harun
khairun.nisa.torch@gmail.com
A
fter each speaker had stated their current
stand pertaining to Islamic Feminism, Asst.
Prof Dr. Fauziah (the moderator) asked
the first question, “Do we still need a feminist
group in Malaysia?” In conjunction with 28th IIUM
Convocation, the International Women Convention
(IWC) was held from the 30th of September till the
2nd of October 2012. It is the first subprogram to
initiate its program under “CONVEST 2012.”
The program started off by conducting a
conference pertaining to women issues at the
Main Auditorium of Kulliyah of Engineering,
IIUM, Gombak. The conference was divided into 3
slots. The first slot was about Women &Economy
presented by Miss Afsha from Bangladesh.
She received the Best Student in Development
Economics Award in 2006. The second slot was
presented by Assoc. Prof Dr Harlina Halizah from
National University of Malaysia pertaining to
Women&Society.ThelastslotwaspresentedbyYB
Puan Hajah Mumtaz pertaining to Women’s Right.
An interesting part of the conference was the part
where Dr Harlina Halizah emphasized on the role
of men towards the protection and development
of women.
On the 1st of October, the IWC conducted a
Grooming session that was presented by a beauty
consultant “Seanggun Bidadari”. The grooming
sessionwasexclusivelyforgirlsandtaughtthegirls
tips on what is suitable to be worn and how to be
presentable.The next day, an exhibition was held in
which MERCY Malaysia, Women Aid Organisation,
Raudhatus Sakinah, Breast Cancer Association,
Legal Aid Bureau, and PENIAGAWATI were invited.
The exhibition was open to all.
To close the Convention with a bow, a forum
titled “Islamic Feminism” was conducted. The
panelist were Dr Fadhila Grine, a visiting professor
in University of Malaya, Miss Ratna Osman,
Executive Director of Sisters in Islam (SIS), Asst.
Prof. Dr Aldila from the IIUM Political Science
Department and Asst. Prof. Dr Fauziah Mohd Noor
from the Ahmad Ibrahim, Kulliyah of Law. Also
attending the forum was also Marina Mahathir
who came with Sisters in Islam. The interesting
part of this forum was indeed the part where Miss
Ratna Osman stated the position of SIS. They state
that they indeed uphold the teachings of the Holy
Quran. However in summary, it can be concluded
that they are of the position that that certain parts
of the Holy Quran are no longer comprehensive
and compatible with the changes that the society
is going through today. The moderator also gave
her views pertaining to this issue as she stated that
none of the panelist had a law background. A spat
also occurred between the members of SIS and the
moderator which cause a bit of uproar during the
forum.
A GREAT START TO “CONVEST 2012”: Ladies from all over were
definitely intrigued enough to attend the International Women Convention,
to learn, share and discuss their views. - Picture by Asyraaf Azahari.
campus
frontlines
iium warriors in
action
page 3
life
take a hike...
literally!
page 12&13
mustangs
from underdog
to contender
page 24