A revelation of another world - Rated 
Having read and enjoyed Year of Wonders I was eager to read anything by Geraldine Brooks. This excellently written, and very personal book helped me to understand the problems faced by Islamic women in Islamic countries. The chapter on female circumcision was utterly shocking and Brooks makes it quite clear that this disgusting practice has nothing to do with the Koran and a lot to do with ancient African and Arab tradition. However, most Muslims seem to turn a blind eye to it. With regard to the rest of the book, I can only endorse the positive comments of other reviewers. It is fascinating to note how differently women are treated in different Islamic countries. I very much doubt if the prophet Mohammed would approve of all the customs attributed to his teaching. This is a short and readable book which provides a valuable insight into a world hidden from most of us in the West.
Fascinating insight into the lives of Islamic women. - Rated
I live in Dubai, a progressive Islamic country and have also visited Saudi Arabia on several occasions while my husband worked there. I found this a fascinating book, putting into perspective a lot of the contradictory Islamic practices that I have observed in the two countries.
The author has travelled extensively across Islamic countries and reached into the lives of many women from diverse origins and from as far afield as Africa and Turkey, through to the Middle East. Her easy manner has enabled women of many backgrounds to open up to her.
The result is a very balanced view of Islam and the cultural practices that have become associated with the religion. It was this distinction between The Koran, the hadiths and culture that explained the very different behaviour of different groups.
This is certainly a book that I shall read again.
My only complaint is that it is already 13 years since it was published and I would love to hear Ms Brooks views on the issues now. Does she feel that her prediction of the looming rise of Fundamenalism has been realised?
Well written and well worth a read - Rated
I bought this on a whim after a trip to Egypt that left me confused about what I was seeing at home and abroad in regard to women in Islam. Easy to read and not at all 'dry' the text is written by a journalist who I feel has avoided simply reporting stereotypes (as one reviewer has alleged) while not shying away from any truth in assumptions those ignorant to Islam or the Middle East may have made. She talks to progressive Muslims as well as hard-liners and though perhaps it is clear she supports a more progressive view I think she represents both sides with care.
I found it a fascinating read and certainly something I would recommend in a time when fear and ignorance are prominent in the way people react to a religion they don't necessarily understand.
A Fascinating Read - Rated
Using her six-year experience in the Middle East, Geraldine Brooks wrote her first book entitled "Nine Parts of Desire," which was published in 1995. The author spent sex years researching the status and the role of women in several Middle East countries such as Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq. The book is broken into thirteen chapters, which describes the journey and the observation of the author in the Middle East countries. She writes about the history of Muhammad and his wives, the purpose for the veil and hijab, the Islamic marriages, the women in military, politics, business, and entertainment, and the author's experience with Queen Noor in Jordan.
In part, this book explores the women's social status as defined by the Islamic culture and the words of the prophet Muhammad. Since Muhammad's death, the Islamic culture has been defining women according to their Koran, which became part of Islamic law (p. 190). The Muslim traditions and customs, such as hidden faces, hairs, or exposed skin of women, seems to came from the book of Koran that expresses Muhammad's accounts with his wives and his revelations. The Islamic laws seem to require women to wear hijab, cloth covering all of their skin expect for hands and eyes, and restricted social interaction between men and women who are not related by blood. In this book, Brooks mentions that the prophet, Muhammad, had a revelation from Allah that required women to be put in seclusion and to wear hijab when in public to avoid the sight of men who might feel temptation or desire to them for their own (p. 4-5, 20-1, 83). The Koran's accounts of Muhammad and his wives seem to show examples of why women needed to be covered and how this gives men ideas of being pure-hearted.
Throughout this book, one can comprehend why the repression against women became intensified in the Islamic societies in the 1970s to the 1990s through the defined social status of women in Islamic culture, Muhammad's interpretation of women's status, the rise of the fundamentalism and its mission, and their reasons for repressing women. With her extensive experience interviewing Muslim women in the Middle East, Brooks has written a fascinating book which expresses an unique perspective about the lives and tradition of Muslim women of the Islamic culture.
Eye opening! - Rated
I started to read this book while staying with friends in Cairo. It really opened my eyes to so much of the truth and myth about women in Islam and also to what is or is not actually written in the Koran. Absolutely facinating and a must for anyone who wants to broaden their understanding of the world we live in.
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