archaeology

I read this book at the suggestion of my sister, and after the attack on the United States by fundamentalist Muslim terrorists (the book was written several years before the destruction of the World Trade Center). I agree with other reviewers that Geraldine Brooks' insightful, thoughtful, provocative book functions as more of a condemnation of the interpretation of Islam by a loud minority of men who are apparently so deeply insecure of their intellect and masculinity that they must legislate and reduce the role of women in society to invisibility than as a condemnation of the religion itself.

Readers will gain great insight into the current dilemma of women in Iraq, who are finding that they had MORE rights under the brutal regime of Saddam Hussein than under the Sharia law of fundamentalist clerics. What I find especially provocative is that the tenants of Islam are applied unequally to men and women: men seem to have some leeway in adapting to modern times and customs, whereas women have had their freedoms truncated from those available to them in the seventh century.

Anyone interested in the history of the Middle East and how human rights abuses hide under "cultural sensitivity" should read this book.

When I first wanted to know about Islam I was at the bookstore and found this book. I thought it would help me to know a little about Islam and even more about the lives of Muslim women. After I read the book, I was even more determined to find out about what really is truth and fiction in Islam. While the author may very well have witnessed these stories she writes about in her book, she has sadly left out stories from the other perspective. These stories are not the example of typical Muslim womens lives. Many of the Arabic Muslim women I know would be shocked to see this type thing written about them. Islam and Muslims should not be incorrectly linked with the traditions of certain cultures/countries. Islam and culture are not the same. The author is also NOT an expert on Islam, the Qur'an, or Hadith. I hope this book will inspire others to look further and be informed. To know the truth, one should seek further knowledge and not just the word of one misonformed, western reporter. A better book to read is "Daughters of Another Path" which gives a more honest and accurate look at the lives of Muslim women.And an important aspect of "Daughters of Another Path" is that it includes the actual words and thoughts of many different Muslim women, and not the feelings necessarily of the author.

A very interesting read for anyone interested in the cause of women in Islam. Some might find it biased - the author makes her opinion very clear and her view is not impartial.

However, she makes some very good parallels between the situation in the Prophet's time and what it is today - and this is not a pretty picture. The testimonials of women is various countries of the Middle East are very enlightening and some make the situation of women in those countries very frightening. It is also interesting to see some of these women's view towards their culture, their society and the progress made by Muslim women.

It is probably one of the best book, if not the best book I have read on women in Islam and I highly recommend it.