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Summary: TREATMENT OF WOMEN IN ISLAMIC COUNTRIES,CHECK THE SOURCES
Review: Great book to read ,it unviels the real status of women in Islam, many people say,it is a tradition, and not the the Islamic sources, Therefore if you read this book ,you should read the book ,"Why I am not a Muslim" by Ibn Warraq ,Chapter (Women in Islam) Then you will find out the truth by yourself.
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Summary: An eye-opening book that made me yearn to know more
Review: Australian-born Geraldine Brooks spent six years as a journalist in the Middle East. She's also the wife of Tony Horwitz, who wrote "Confederates in the Attic" and "Baghdad Without a Map." I read both of these books and remember how fondly he speaks of her. And so reading this book was, in a way, getting to know her too.Ms. Brooks is a secular feminist. She makes no secret of that. And, as a woman, she was able to gain entry into a the world behind the heavy veils, which she often needed to wear herself. She spoke with many woman, did a lot of research, and moved within this special world as an observer and witness to her times. Her interviews ranged from the Queen of Jordan to a Palestinian woman who lived in with her husband, his second wife and all their children in a modest hut. Some of the women she talked with were highly educated; others had never learned to read and write. They all accepted their religion and were able to express their point of view in a way I could understand even though some of them were often hostile to westerners. Ms. Brooks tried to cover a lot in her book -- the treatment of women in different countries, the practice of genital mutilation, education of women, legal status. She even discussed the contradictions about the status of women all the way back to Mohammed's time. That's a big order for a little book. It was not always successful. It only opened my mind. It did not satisfy it, leaving me with a desire to learn more. And especially wanting to read some works written from an Islamic woman's point of view. Also, since its publication in 1995, much of it is dated. Her interview with Mrs. Khomeini at the time of the Ayatollah's death took place in 1989. And, more recently, Jordan's King Hussein and Syria's Hafez Assad have passed away. But I must say that this book did open my eyes. It's time now to learn more.
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Summary: NOT ISLAM WITCH IS WRONG IT IS ANCIENT TRADITIONDS
Review: i have read many parts of this book and honestly i have really desapointed but what i have read is horrible i am a 15 years old MUSLIM boy and i found my self verey intereasted to read and know what they hade in mind about arabia and i found and in particuler in this book it shows islam and muslim ladies and society in such a ugly way ,yes i do understand that ther are some wrong things and atitudes going on towards ladies in some islamic and arabian countreys like saudia arabia and iran (not arab)but you most know that a big deale of the laws that are inforced in those countreys do not have any thing to do with islam , ladies are not prohibited ti drive cars or even to cover her complite face ,although she has to cover her hair an waer something that does not revile her body in an atractive way , it says nothing about waring that abaya (black clock)they only wear it because it is tradition , any way you guys who read this book mos completly understand that what you are reading and hearing about islam is true because that author only shoes half the truth and leaves the other half so please if you whant to know any thing try to ask a muslim first because i guess we know our religon and traditions better than other, with all respect to who are trying to discover islam or something about islamic societys please please know that a lot of what you are reading is tradition tradition and it has little to do with islam the problem is not with the religon its with the wrong and ancient traditions and about the book don't waist your money its not that good .
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Summary: Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women
Review: Geraldine Brooks has written an excellent book on some of the most important issues an Islamic woman faces in the Middle East. She combines the real life stories of women with quotes from the Koran which either support or do not support the way of life they are subjected to. She also includes the male perspective and their interpretations of the Koran - all which affect the lives of the women in her book. I have lived in the Middle East for short periods of time and I have found her analysis to be well founded. In her six years in the Middle East she experienced the lives of a diverse group of women, from Bedouin to Queen, teachers to rebels, working moms to women in the military, and more. Her point of view from the heart left me with a mixture of emotions.
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Summary: Another narrative about the orient..
Review: The book was recommended to me by a British friend who found it very facinating (despite her frequent visits to the Middle East. Constraints of time prevented me from reading it but in the course of my reaserch on how the both the West and East percieve women, I picked it up and finsihed it in one go. As a Jordanian muslim woman, I was insulted by some refernces to Jordan in particular and the Arab world in general. It seems that Brooks was only too willing to take many things at face value losing in the process the ability to judge objectively. And judge she did; from her misrepresentions of Islam up to her incessant attempt to form some interrelatedness between many abhorrent cultural pratices and Islam. I admit that women in Jordan like everywhere else around the world are the victims of male-dominated societies, but Islam is not the culprit. It is the misinterpretation thereof. I do not expect Brooks to undertake the difficult task of untangling Islam from the web of cultural backwardness, however, I advice her not to take her topics so lightly. Her account in particular of the "crime of honor' committed by a Sudanese against his wife is a case in point. Not only are these crimes completely divorced from the spirit of the religion but it seems they have become a new weapon in the hands of the West in its renewed attack against the Middle East. We the Arabs live in the heart of the world, progeny to an amazing history and civilization that saw its climax when Europe was still fighting its battles in the Middle Ages, so please be careful how you approach such a history and civilization. More importantly, writers like Brooks should spend more time reseraching her topics regarding the Middle East to avoid the reductionism that ran like a thread throughout her whole book.
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Summary: The OPPRESSION of Moslem Women
Review: I read this book, and found it to be an accurate desription of life as a Muzlamic woman. My daughter and son, Leena and Carl, were kidnapped to Iran (that dreaded terrorist fundamentalist muzlamic state), by their non custodial father. Another true book and hit movie that shows the pain of an american woman who lost her child to a terrorist is Not Without My Daughter. I feel that both of these books will help to expose the terrors of Islam.
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Summary: Some Balance Please
Review: These reviews are such extremes. Mulsims saying Brookes is an enemy of Islam etc. Others saying this represents the truth about Islam. What is required is some balance. The author is right about the sorry state of womens rights in Islamic countries. Her tone, while caustic, is entertaining and while I am a Muslim, I do not find it insulting at all. She is wrong on substantive areas of Islamic law. For example, she is woefully ignorant on divorce where the Maliki school allows divoce on the grounds of incompatability (contrary to her assertions). She also makes a great deal hinge on the age of the Prophets wife Aisha without even mentioning the controversy here (a comprehensive study by Pakistani Islamist scholars, Tehkik e Umar e Aisha, concludes she was 17 to 26 at the time of marriage). She does not search for truth and is only too ready to accept caricatures. All of this said, we Muslims need to think hard about her views as we create the surface perceptions she reflects. Rather than condemn her work, we need to ask outselves why we give others such impressions. In return outsides owe us to dig deeper for the truth.
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Summary: Interesting, but bias is obvious
Review: This book was a fascinating read, but did not represent my experiences as a Western woman travelling in the Middle East and North Africa. While there are indeed many cultural practices that are wrongly justified by adherance to Islam, this is true of any religious or ethnic group. Clitoridectomy cannot be defended, however neither can presenting all Muslim women as oppressed slaves. This book should be read as interesting tales of one Western woman's experience as seen through her own eyes, not as hard facts describing every Muslim woman's life. I found many gross generalizations that simply cannot be substanitated.
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Summary: JOKE
Review: Obviously this is FICTION ! If it's not then I don't have a clue where this writer came up with all this imaginative speculations. YES VISITOR VISAS? ROFL I am still laughing at that and so much more but laughing only because it is so obvious. Disgusted is what I am at the gall and audacity of the stupidity and ethnocentricity of all of it. It really is quite absurd for any of us who know the truth and I agree that anyone who wants to know the truth should certainly not believe what someone that doesn't seem to have a clue says. But then I am of the mind that the book MUST have been written as some kind of JOKE? Right?
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Summary: An Extreme Mis-lead
Review: Its so obvious and clear how the Author of this "Book" hates Islam and Arabic Muslims.. By reading about Islam, you would know that everything she said was not true, and that its a total mis-lead and would realize how Muslim Women are treasured, respected, and protected.. I am an Arabic Muslim, 21 years old young lady and I study Electrical Engineering.. I never had a problem being proud of whom I am, and where I belong to .. Im very happy in my life, respected and loved, and have a freedom to have my own desires in life, make my own decisions, follow my dreams, and I have the right to choose my way of doing that too. Islam doesnt keep us from doing that, it encourages me to be the best I can be, and all the men who are a part of my life do that too. We are more respected than many women in different parts of the world who look at women as symbols of sex more than they respect her brain, women in the west suffer from high rate of physical and emotional abuse, why do women from other religions then consider reading about Islam, believing in it and getting into it! its because they dont find the respect they are looking for in their cultures and societies. Islam is Kind, Islam respects a woman and protects her, and we all feel that. I dont know why did the Author bother and write about us, if she didnt write to tell the truth then why did she write? I dont advise you educated people out there to read this book, if you really wanna learn about Islam, or what do Muslim women think about it, please do read what we have to offer, no one knows about us and our life better than us. To the Author; Im sure you didnt write your book because of your love towards us, and your caring about our happiness, your book actually reveals your extreme hatter and hostility. thanks alot but we are not in need for your help! Why dont you read about real Islam instead! Maybe you would find your happiness, respect and freedom there..
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