Women and Islam

Zayn R. Kassam, PhD, is full professor of religious studies at the Department of Religious Studies at Pomona College, Claremont, CA.

This balanced exploration provides the basis for an energetic engagement with what it means to be a Muslim woman in a globalized world.The expert essays in Women and Islam are designed to stimulate discussion and help readers achieve a more sober understanding of the lives of Muslim women around the world. They explore the issues Muslim women face as they fight for gender justice and meet the challenges of living in a globalized, post-9/11 world-whether in Iran or France, Ethiopia, or the United States.Each chapter examines a different part of the globe, exploring issues arising from cultural and religious codes, as well as from internal and global politics, economics, education, and the law. Readers will glimpse the many and diverse ways in which Muslim women are actively involved in addressing the conditions embedded in their discrete environments and taking up the opportunities afforded to them, adopting strategies ranging from the political to the legal, from the theatrical to the religious.

A comprehensive glossary of key non-English terms in Arabic, Malay, Urdu, Amharic, Farsi, and other languages cited in the book