"Women and Muslim Family Laws in Arab States: A Comparative Overview of Textual Development and Advocacy combines an examination of women's rights in Muslim family law in Arab states from the Gulf to North Africa with discussions of the public debates surrounding the issues that are raised in processes of codification and amendment. A number of states have recently either codified Muslim family law, or have issued significant amendments or new laws on the subject. This study considers these new laws along with older statutes to comment on patterns and dynamics of change both in the texts of the laws and in the processes by which they are drafted and issued. It draws on original legal texts as well as on secondary literature for an insight into practice; interventions by women's rights organizations and other parties are drawn on to identify areas of the laws that remain contested. The discussions are set in the contemporary global context that internationalises the domestic and regional discussions."--book jacket.