Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak

Abstract

In Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak, editors Fernea and Bezirgan have made a valiant effort to unveil an important dimension of Middle Eastern history and society, a dimension that has been for the most part, hidden from view because of the false notion that the world of Islam is a world created by men for men rather than a joint creation of men and women. The book is a collection of documents from different historical periods and regions of the Middle East, as well as from different social and economic groups. it provides a somewhat clearer view of the conditions, aspirations, struggles, and achievements of Middle Eastern Muslim women. In some ways the book is a paradox. The editors show how Middle Eastern women haved risen to greater political and public eminence than women in the United States, while as a sex remaining largely subservient to men and enjoying less access to the means of personal advancement. The first book to use a documentary approach rather than essays by third persons, it is also the first book to include material unavailable in English. Many of the selections of these autobiographical and biographical writings have been translated by the editors from Arabic, Persian, or French. And, it is the first to gather together materials from A.D. 622 (beginning of Islam) to the present. Offering a fresh and lively approach the book should be of value not only to those interested in the Middle East, but also to anthropologists and social historians. From a vast area, the editors have chosen a sample of women from twelve countries. Despite their different backgrounds and experiences, the women represented have all worked out their own solutions within the context of local practice established between the two contradictory poles of Koranic injunction and family and tribal custom. The book has a well-presented Foreword, a detailed Introduction, and is ...