Women and Gender in Islam
Historical Roots of a Modern Debate

There's a curious and persistent disconnect that exists in cross-cultural discussions of the relationship between women and Islam. In the view of most non-Muslims, the religion seems hierarchical and obviously disadvantageous to women. The proof of this given are that its laws seem to seclude women......more

Which is worse, having no book on a subject or having a flawed one? This is the dilemma Ahmed's book faces us with. The book suffers from factual errors and methodological shortcomings. Nevertheless, it's the first book to attempt the ambitious task of offering a historical survey of the topic. To me......more

Leilah Ahmad provides a fascinating, well cited and thought provoking history of women in the Middle East prior to the advent of Islam. She provides a history of how the prevailing attitudes and beliefs regarding women were absorbed into Islamic thought as the empire expanded. Ahmad goes on to discu......more