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# No Compulsion on Women: Gender Egalitarianism in Islam 

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October 23, 2026 11 AM - 12 PM EDT 

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##### Featuring 

![Asma Afsaruddin](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-09/asma-afsaruddin-modified.png?itok=AiCVEqiQ) 

Asma Afsaruddin 

Herman B Wells Endowed Professor of Middle Eastern Languages &amp; Cultures at Indiana University Bloomington

![Leena El Ali circle crop](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2026-09/leena-el-ali-modified.png?itok=YcJxyYYe) 

Leena El-Ali 

Author of *No Truth Without Beauty: God, the Qur’an, and Women’s Right*

[![Mustafa Akyol Cropped](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2024-11/akyol-cropped-new.jpg?itok=VLgHg13I)](/people/mustafa-akyol) 

[Mustafa Akyol](/people/mustafa-akyol)

Senior Fellow, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://x.com/AkyolinEnglish) [ 

](mailto:makyol@cato.org) 

The oppression of women in parts of the Islamic world is a serious human rights problem. This becomes more acute when misogyny gets justified by religious teachings, as seen most severely in Afghanistan under the Taliban. Many Muslims, however, believe in gender equality. That includes “Islamic feminists” who defend this position with fresh interpretations of scripture and tradition, especially through close readings of the Qur’anic text. Prominent among them is Asma Afsaruddin, a contributor to the recent volume, [*No Compulsion in Religion—No Exceptions: Islamic Arguments for Religious Freedom*](https://www.cato.org/books/no-compulsion-religion-no-exceptions), edited by Cato’s Mustafa Akyol.

Join us to hear Afsaruddin make the case for gender egalitarianism in Islam. Leena El-Ali, the author of [an acclaimed book](https://www.amazon.com/Truth-Without-Beauty-Sustainable-Development-ebook/dp/B09MW2RGGS?tag=catoinstitute-20) on the same topic, will provide comments.

![noreligion-bookcover](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/promo_block_book_cover_1x/public/2025-12/noreligion-bookcover.jpg?itok=J9kQhnG2) 

### *[No Compulsion in Religion—No Exceptions](https://www.amazon.com/Compulsion-Religion-Exceptions-Arguments-Religious/dp/1964524946?tag=catoinstitute-20)*

Most Muslims today are familiar with that remarkable Qur’anic statement: “There is no compulsion in religion…” (2:256). This verse, in a few words, seems to present an amazingly ancient precedent to a modern liberal value: that religion must be based on freedom, not coercion.

[Purchase Book](https://www.amazon.com/Compulsion-Religion-Exceptions-Arguments-Religious/dp/1964524946?tag=catoinstitute-20) 

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