Women and gender in Islam : historical roots of a modern debate /

Ahmed's engaging book is both the only currently available survey of the history of women in Middle Eastern societies and a polemical work articulating a revisionist feminist view of women and gender in Islam. Ahmed examines the status of women in ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, and pre-Islamic Christian societies before moving on to topics more familier to Islamists, e.g., the status of women in pre-Islamic Arabia, the attitude of Muhammad to his wives, the treatment of women in Islamic law, modern controversies over the veil. This sweeping historical framework presages the author's principal argument: that in its attitude toward and treatment of women, Islamic civilization is the heir of more ancient Middle Eastern (and European) traditions. She identifies an "ethical" streak in Islam that stresses equality and respect for women, a tendency obscured by a misogyny inherited from ancient, classical, and Christian civilizations. Many historians will object to a number of the book's conclusions. The force of Ahmed's argument occasionally outpaces balanced historical judgment, but that argumentative streak is also the source of much of the book's insight and interest. This book will both spark debate among specialists and become a staple of undergraduate courses. J. P. Berkey; Mount Holyoke College