Woman in Islam

Fülszöveg

Woman in Islam The status of women and the culture of Islam, two subjects of deep emotion and intense debate in today's world, are here examined together in a work that interweaves the history of Islam with the role of Moslem women in traditionally Islamic countries. The flowing text is lavishly illustrated with 137 plates that are in themselves a treasure trove for scholars and art lovers to explore. The author-who holds a doctorate in Islamic Cultural History and is a specialist in Middle East Studies-brilliantly expounds the varied roles of Moslem women. Militant partners with their men in the time of Mohammed and the early Khalifat-but later veiled and segregated in the tradition of Ancient Near East cultures and societies-"respectable" women were soon closed off from any public or social life outside their own families, while other women filled the roles assigned to them by men. All come to life in these pages-passionate fighters and defenders of the Faith, ardent but usually... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Woman in Islam The status of women and the culture of Islam, two subjects of deep emotion and intense debate in today's world, are here examined together in a work that interweaves the history of Islam with the role of Moslem women in traditionally Islamic countries. The flowing text is lavishly illustrated with 137 plates that are in themselves a treasure trove for scholars and art lovers to explore. The author-who holds a doctorate in Islamic Cultural History and is a specialist in Middle East Studies-brilliantly expounds the varied roles of Moslem women. Militant partners with their men in the time of Mohammed and the early Khalifat-but later veiled and segregated in the tradition of Ancient Near East cultures and societies-"respectable" women were soon closed off from any public or social life outside their own families, while other women filled the roles assigned to them by men. All come to life in these pages-passionate fighters and defenders of the Faith, ardent but usually frustrated lovers, behind-the-scenes politicians, gifted poets, submissive wives, slave dancing and singing girls, concubines, and "boy-girls," and twentiethcentury students, wives, and occasionally even career women, torn between the allure of freedom and the security of the traditional. Here, concisely and clearly, are traced the origins and founding of Mohammedanism, the centrality of the Koran as the inimitable word of God, and the development of Islamic law and custom. We discern a religion that has historically pervaded the political and cultural life of the countries in which it is dominant, a religion in which-as in Christianity and Judaism- women have been defined as inferior to men and in which they were excluded from the mainstream of life and society. Islamic art is represented here through architecture, of which the Taj Mahall and the Bibi Khanum are famous examples, interior design and furnishings, miniature paintings, and handcrafts, with Western-style painting and sculpture appearing only in modern times.
(continued from front flap ) We trace the unrequited passions of Odhrite lovers, hear the voices of epic poets like Firdousi and Nizami, and delight in the sparkling illustrations. Women in this world have been seen for centuries as "vessels" for procreation or sex objects. Polygyny was possible. Sex is explicitly dealt with in credo, law, and poetry, and the author also explores the values of family honor, pride, and protectiveness that underlie attitudes toward sexuality. Together, text and illustrations are a rare synthesis of the exotic and the sober. This book excites, angers, amuses, dismays; it delights the eye and informs the mind. Answers to current Middle Eastern political dilemmas will not be found here, but through the picture story of Woman in Islam, we arrive at a fuller understanding of religious beliefs, mental processes, and cultural attitudes and constraints too little known in the West. Vissza