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WOMEN
AND ISLAM
Fatima Mernissi
Rs 275 Pb 2004
81-88965-12-X
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In
this book the author, who is both a feminist and
a Muslim, aims to shed light on the status of women
in Islam by examining and reassessing the literary
sources as far back as seventh-century Islam. She
portrays how, far from being the oppressor of women
that his detractors have claimed, the Prophet upheld
the equality of all true believers. Sifting through
the mass of literature surrounding the life, works
and teachings of Muhammad, some surprising facts
emerge such as descriptions of how the wives of
the Prophet discussed politics with him, and even
went to war. Later restrictions and impositions
on women such as the veil were never, she finds,
the intention of the Prophet.
The author believes that Muslims will eventually
feel that pressing need to root their lives in a
more liberating memory. Here is a bold reconciliation
of feminism with the Prophet’s thoughts and
beliefs, for all who are concerned with the history
and future of the Islamic world.
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FATIMA
MERNISSI
is Professor of
Sociology at the University of Rabat, Morocco, and
the author of Beyond
the Veil and Women
in Muslim Paradise.
She is a strong campaigner for a reinterpretation
of the Islamic texts vis-à-vis the position
of women. |
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