MalayMail-Aug 30
Sisters in Islam (SIS) is now in its 20th year of giving free legal advice and plans to continue helping even more Malaysian Muslims find answers to difficult questions on challenging topics like polygamy, divorce, child custody, and husbands who fail to provide financially for the family. Since its free legal advisory service Telenisa began in 2003, SIS has helped a whopping 15,000 persons nationwide — 90 per cent women, 10 per cent men — by informing them of their legal rights under Malaysia’s Islamic family law and local laws on Shariah criminal offences. While this is a remarkable achievement for a non-governmental organization better known for its promotion of Muslim women’s rights locally, SIS believes that Malaysia needs to do better by going beyond temporary solutions like Telenisa and carry out long-awaited reforms that would improve the fate of Muslim women and children. ‘As time went on, we realized that there were so many complaints about the Shariah court, the system, the discrimination against women, the gender bias. According to SIS co-founder Zainah Anwar, Muslim women have often been told that they need to be obedient to their husbands in Islam and of the husband’s right to marry four wives. Read more at: https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2023/08/30/beyond-a-band-aid-why-sis-started-free-legal-advice-for-muslims-20-years-ago-and-whats-next/87882
