Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality and Equality

WISE sponsors conferences, like the 2010 conference in Malaysia which drew over 200 Muslim women from over 55 countries. At the first conference, also in Malaysia in 2007, WISE developed a 10-year plan for "advancing women's worldwide leadership within Islam."{{Cite news|url = http://womensenews.org/story/070706/muslim-women-build-international-network#.Vf9t81UVikp|title = Muslim Women Build International Network|last = Habib|first = Shahnaz|date = 6 February 2007|work = Women's eNews|access-date = 20 September 2015}} WISE conferences present academic papers, workshops and a Muslim Women's Online Portal which streams video and has a virtual mosque.{{Cite web|url = http://www.ips.org/mdg3/muslim-women-building-institutions-creating-change/|title = Muslim Women: Building Institutions, Creating Change|access-date = 22 September 2015|website = IPS}}

WISE set up a shura council for women which makes religious statements about abuses against women.{{Cite news|url = http://www.todayszaman.com/national_wise-muslim-women-shatter-stereotypes-at-i-stanbul-conference_260691.html|title = WISE Muslim Women Shatter Stereotypes at Istanbul Conference|last = Dogan|first = Yonca Poyraz|date = 23 October 2011|work = Today's Zaman|access-date = 20 September 2015}} While the council has no legal authority to issue fatwas, it is influential in many countries where Islam is the major religion. The shura is a way to promote activism from within the system already in place where Shari'a law is used.{{Cite book|title = Feminist and Islamic Perspectives: New Horizons of Knowledge and Reform|last = Reda|first = Nevin|publisher = The Women and Memory Forum|year = 2013|isbn = 9789775895301|pages = 131|editor-last = Abou-Bakr|editor-first = Omaima|url = http://www.wmf.org.eg/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Final-English-Islamic.pdf#page=131|access-date = 22 September 2015|chapter = From Where do we Derive “God’s Law”? The Case of Women’s Political Leadership: A Modern Expression of an Ancient Debate}} The shura created by WISE is "an effort by women to reclaim a religious and legal voice," and it is also the "first truly international shura of the Muslim world."

WISE also coordinates with other groups, like the Noor Educational Centre (NEC), founded by Jamila Afghani, in order to provide gender-sensitive training for Imams.{{Cite news|url = http://womensenews.org/story/the-world/150612/in-afghanistan-danger-stalks-gender-imam-training|title = In Afghanistan, Danger Stalks Gender Imam Training|last = Nalli|first = Hajer|date = 12 June 2015|work = Women's eNews|access-date = 7 September 2015}} The group also reaches out and partners with traditional Islamic universities as well.

WISE was formed in 2006 in order to overcome the stereotypes that Muslims are terrorists and that Islam oppresses women.{{Cite news|url = http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=200611211014084948&site=ehost-live|title = Feminists for Islam|date = 21 November 2006|work = The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|access-date = 20 September 2015|via = Newspaper Source - EBSCOhost}} WISE was founded by Daisy Khan, who was concerned about gender inequality in Islam.{{Cite news|url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/daisy-khan/afghanistan-imams-end-violence-against-muslim-women_b_1287885.html|title = Training Afghani Imams to End Violence Against Women|last = Khan|first = Daisy|date = 21 February 2012|work = The Huffington Post|access-date = 20 September 2015|last2 = Siddiqui|first2 = Fazeela}} Khan also said, "It's embarrassing when the problems of Muslim women are debated in the press without any participation by Muslim women themselves." WISE was first "launched" at a 2006 conference sponsored by ASMA in New York.{{Cite web|url = http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/about|title = About WISE|access-date = 21 September 2015|website = WISE Muslim Women}} In its initial statement in 2006, WISE has stated that "justice, fairness, and equality are core values of Islam."{{Cite book|title = The Oxford Handbook of Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding|last = Kadayifici-Orellana|first = S. Ayse|publisher = Oxford University Press|year = 2015|isbn = 9780199731640|location = Oxford|pages = 444|editor-last = Omer|editor-first = Atalia|editor-last2 = Appleby|editor-first2 = R. Scott|editor-last3 = Little|editor-first3 = David|chapter = Peacebuilding in the Muslim World}}

WISE has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Henry Luce Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Marshall Family Fund.{{Cite book|title = Encountering the Transnational: Women, Islam and the Politics of Interpretation|last = Sharify-Funk|first = Meena|publisher = Ashgate Publishing Limited|year = 2008|isbn = 9780754671237|location = Hampshire, England|pages = 103}} Early on, the organization included prominent Muslim women, such as Baroness Uddin, Ingrid Mattson and Massouda Jalal.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.wisemuslimwomen.org/ Official site]

Category:Islamic feminism

Category:Religious women's organizations based in the United States

Category:Islamic organizations based in the United States