The Hidden World of Islamic Women - Nine Parts of Desire

Geraldine Brooks should be applauded for writing such an easy-to-read guide to the Koran ~ I loved how each chapter was dedicated to an aspect of Islamic culture which opened my eyes to understand the plight of Islamic women.

If you are choosing this book for depth of understanding behind any religious justification of how Muslim women are treated, this book will give you a good place to start, but it is really more about the lives of women in Muslim society. From that perspective more than anything, it is worth a read.

Oh, if it were only the veils. The subordination. The illiteracy. But being a woman in the Middle East is more like perpetual torture. Genital mutilation, stolen children, stonings to death, whippings, rape, and summary execution. Geraldine Brooks explains just how much of it is explained by religion, and when autocratic theocracy steps in to finish the job. A Wall Street Journal reporter assigned to Cairo, Brooks is a student of Islam, and of Arabic. She explains the rift between the Shia and Sunni sects, and opens our eyes to the Prophet's trials and tribulations with the women of his household. We learn how he made up the rules of Islam as he went along, in order to advance his own lust, and in the process, made slaves of Islamic women forever. Sometimes you will laugh, but it won't be for long, because unfathomable cruelty will crop up a few pages further on. Ms. Brooks has the journalistic talent of the young Norman Mailer; she sees layers of meaning behind every scene she describes, most of it lost on the scene's participants. She brings to life the ghastly reality of life behind the minarets and souks. She exposes the hypocracy and outright lies of Islam's apologists, and gives us the straight story, no matter how it hurts. You can read Bernard Lewis to learn the academic side of modern Islam. You'll have to read Geraldine Brooks to find out how it sounds, smells, and feels.

This book by Geraldine Brooks is excellent. I am so glad I was able to find this copy of it. This would be a good companion piece to Reading Lolita in Tehran.
Book was delivered on time and in good condition.

One has to agree that there are inequalities of the sexes within the Muslim and Arab World, as there is everywhere. This book presents some of the information wrong, especially the Quranic and Hadith texts, as well as leaves out other information in the same areas. Although she might quote some of these texts, she takes them out of context which not only changes the meaning, misses the point they were trying to convey in the original context. This book is pretty good if you are already know a good amount of information regarding Islam, women, and multiple views regarding both so you can pick out the flaws and misinformation.

Interesting and appalling to see how women are treated in Muslim countries. An eye-opener. BDS should be implemented against everyone of these countries until they implement human rights for women and girls

Books like this should be read by women the world over. It touches on many aspects of Islam, from the progressives to the fundamentalists within. It is a misogynistic ideology that has no place in the Western world.

Wow. Just wow. This book is a must-read cultural study on Islam and the treatment of women and sexuality within the culture. Any woman who feels oppressed in the U.S. ought to sit down and read this book, then quit whining. This book was eye-opening, in addition to well written. Its a quick read because once you pick it up you won't put it down. I share this book with fellow readers anytime I have the chance.

The information in this book is probably well-researched and accurate....but it's scary and gives me nightmares! All women in the free world should read this book to more fully realize and be thankful for the freedoms women have achieved in the Western world.

This book was a surprise from the beginning. I never ceased to be amazed at the places that the author was able to find herself and the experiences that she had. The honesty that was revealed in her reporting was gut-wrenching at times, heart stopping at times - I found myself not wanting to put the book down. I've read a number of books with the women of Islam as the topic, and this one hit home more than any other. A must read for anyone interested in seeing the "real" story behind the veil.

Love Geraldine Brooks. I had not read this first book of hers. As always, she is informative, draws you into story and you never want her books to end. Can't wait for any new one she will write. Now I have read everything she has written.

What an excellent book for understanding the women of the Islamic world. Though it covers Islam's history and current political issues, the book is more a collection of personal biographies of women who have been born into or chose to convert to Islamic beliefs. These are intelligent, vital women, some of whom loathe their lot in Islamic life, some of whom embrace it.

I have just finished reading this book, which I thought would provide me, the Muslim woman,with an insight of literature that was deplicting my role.
What I found, infuriated me! As I turned the pages, hoping to find relief with positive portrayals of most Muslim women-I only found more negatively drawn, inclusive interviews that seemed to be the focus of her reporting tactics.
What was so 'hidden' about her book was the successful, Muslim women, who were happy and not oppressed!
I strongly DON'T RECOMMEND IT!

I was so fascinated with this book, and how women from other parts of the world live in their everday lives! I put all other books I was reading until I completed this one. I even order one for my daughter who has grown to love non-fiction as much as myself!

She has not received her book yet, but I think she will enjoy it as much as I did.
It is not that I enjoy seeing the conditions/subjugation that these women endure in their lives, but that it is a "keyhole" opportunity to see how other women in other cultures/religions live their lives.
I have for many years sought to research and learn how other women in other cultures/religions are made to live in their everyday lives.

I do feel that this culture/religion should take a "stronger" hand to the men that makes these womens' lives very strict and use the slightest excuse to physically punish the women.
I am grateful that this author took the risks that she did to bring us in our country a view on how life is for other women.

I have neices and granddaughters who are impacted to various degrees by the sexual "pushing" of the media/commercials here in America.

I have a 12 year old neice who dresses in spaghetti strap dresses that I feel are definitely not appropriate for her age. She is "boy crazy" and uses her "tablet" to troll for boys. This is not healthy for a 12 year old and it is actually dangerous!

I have no jurisdiction over this neice, so I am not able to be much of an influence on her modesty. I do make my opinions known when I can but in a tactful way.

The clothing industry and the media make this subject of "lack of modesty" as something to "be desired" and achieved. In reality, any female can always take more off, or show herself to the other sex, but it can be very "tacky" and "loose" morally.

I have attended functions with my usband where women who were grandmothers dressed in dresses with no back, and as my husband observed - no underwear on the top. Braless, with no back in the dress. The hem was barely covering her butt and looked like something a stripper would wear. this is a "professional woman" displaying herself in this manner.

As my husband observed regarding her, she never wears a bra (with large breasts) and "always" wears as little clothing as possible. I feel that we older mothers and grandmothers should set an example for our younger females to follow. We should not try to complete, and display ourselves as 20-somethings. We should set an example for our 20-somethings to look up to.

Especially when females are actually in a professional career, but spend the weekends looking like trash. Any female can present herself as a "hoochie mama" we all have the same body parts. I feel that a little more comportment in modesty would be nice from us older females.

I am not a "prude" but hate to see the "sexual" direction into which our country seems to be sliding!

My opinion - to which I am enitiled - and I am sure there are those of you who may not agree with me. In order to explain the pros and cons of the subject of this book, I felt it was necessary to go into a little detail on my view point.
One thing I do agree with in the Muslim religion, is the modesty stressed for the females. Of course, I feel that the extreme veiling and never leaving the house, and the arrest and/or beatings that these women often receive just trying to go about their lives ourside of their homes is too extreme. Such as if they are carrying packages and their veil slips a tiny bit and their ankles/hair shows very minamally.
But, I do feel that our country has pushed the "sex" side of everything from commercials to little girls clothing that we in our country could use a "good dose of modesty!"

An excellent coverage of the status of women in the Muslim world in the 1990s, when the author lived among them, traveled in several Mid-East countries, and watched first-hand the shift from secularism to fanaticism. Many women among Brooks's acquaintances seemed to accept--even welcome--the "safety of the hijab," while others watched with dread their dwindling opportunities for marriage with enlightened men that would allow them the freedoms they had grown to expect when being educated and had traveled abroad.

While the author dug deep into the layers of society and tried to understand the choices some women made, she remained perplexed as this reader was. Most importantly, she had not witnessed a stoning of a woman falsely accused of a concocted adultery, nor interviewed mothers who abated in luring their straying daughters to be murdered to save the family's "honor."

In the bigger picture, the spread of fundamentalism that always begins with women's bodies and the decrees to control their movements and liberties, continued to spread. As it culminated in 2001 in the 9/11 attack, the author added a postscript that unfortunately only appeared in the recorded audio version, but not in the digital version. (It is so easy for a publisher to add a digital chapter!) In it though, the author seemed to be unable to bring herself to condemn the culture that she had so well documented.

We know that the status of women has only continued to lower, and fundamentalism has spread deep into Asia and Africa.

This is a fascinating, if poorly titled, work of nonfiction. Brooks spent several years as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, where she spent time with hundreds of women - some of them newsworthy in their own right, others just average people.

The title gives a false impression of the book on two counts: first, while sex and marriage are discussed, these topics are not the primary focus; and second, the book doesn't pretend to discuss the lives of Islamic women everywhere - Brooks traveled in the Middle East and a bit in North Africa, but this region is actually home to a minority of the world's Muslim population. That said, the book draws clear distinctions among Middle Eastern societies, from Saudi Arabia to Iran to Egypt to Palestine, and provides an overview of a wide variety of subjects. Big universal topics like education, marriage and employment are covered, as well as practices associated with Islam, such as veiling, honor killings and female genital mutilation (a horrifying chapter - and as Brooks points out, while Islam may not promote this practice it isn't doing much to end it either). There are also chapters on women in the military and guerrilla movements, in politics, in sports and the arts, and the success or failure of feminist groups. The book is now 20 years old, but still very relevant today; Brooks caught an earlier stage of trends that continue today, specifically the rise of fundamentalism.

All this is conveyed in a clear, precise journalistic style, mixing anecdotes from people Brooks met with personal stories she witnessed or experienced, along with her research; the chapter on the Prophet's wives surprised me with the amount of information available about them. Brooks doesn't try to hide her own worldview - she's a progressive, secular feminist - but she relies on facts and observation rather than stereotypes, and clearly worked to understand the people that she met. And where the book makes judgments - well, there are moral issues where neutrality is not a virtue. Brooks is also careful to distinguish between what the Koran says, and what some societies choose to do.

If I have a complaint, it's that the book is very short for the amount of material covered; as another reviewer stated, it piqued my interest rather than satisfying it. Also - there is more great novel material in the subjects covered in this book than the most prolific author could exhaust in a lifetime, but instead of writing those novels, Brooks went off and wrote about the Plague, and the American Civil War, and a past/present historian story. Now why couldn't she write the novels I want to read?

The Kindle version of this book has multiple typos and this was very distracting and annoying for me. I also was unable to see the map in the front of the book-it was in tiny, light gray print and I was unable to manipulate in any way so could not make darker or larger.
As for the book itself it seemed disjointed and belabored. Seems like it could have been about 2/3s or 1/2 the length. It is intriguing to learn of Ms. Brooks travels and work in the Middle East. She has more guts than I think I would have. And I am always glad to learn of women's lives in other cultures. Also need to keep in mind that this book was published in mid 1990's. I wonder if the author could even access some of the families and situations now as she did in the 80's and 90's.

Usually the discussions on Islam and women in confined to the single issue of the veil, and perhaps oppression. This book delves into broader issues that reflect the theme - such as how the resurging puritanical movement affected other "women's" fields such as arts, dance, sports, military, polygamy, higher education, and political participation. As a journalist for WSJ, the author effectively used the personal anecdotes with women as well as gutsy personal experiences to unravel the story, and tying it to broader regional trends. For instance, why do women have more rights in post-revolutionary Iran than in Saudi Arabia, despite both theocratic regimes forced women to cloak and segregate themselves? Brooks theorized the answer lies began early in the revolution's active enlistment of women during the protests, and later on their gender segregated schools drew conservative women out of the house into the public realm whereas they would not have done so earlier. Brooks is also harsh in its criticism of male jurists and clerics adopting misogynist/hardline positions without a textual basis, and the women who push back in a variety of ways. But similarly she is also critical of Western bigotry, such as France's anti-burqa laws; seeing both as men attempting to impose their beliefs upon women's bodies. After all, the greatest challenging lies in protecting women's freedom to choose, and respecting those decisions.

Frankly I didn't expect this little book to be so engaging, and being well-documented and researched. One rather glaring absence is the lack of mentions of South and Southeast Asia, whose populations far surpassed that of the Arab/Persian realm, and whose different cultures and practices would shed light on a host of different women's issues. The author is also sometimes quick to judgment, but in her interactions/interviews this led to some interesting conversations a more reserved interviewer might not have encountered. But then, this book is ultimately about one journalist's journey and observations during her post in the ME as opposed to some authority on the topic, so as that it succeeded. And as always, I give applause for crazy brave journalists who go to the frontlines (Eritrea, Gaza, etc) for the pursuit of knowledge.

Final Notes
* Is this an objective book? NO. But then, it is impossible to ever be truly objective when discussing cultural issues. In the end, you have to read different perspective and make up your own mind.

Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks details, as the subtitle says, the HIdden World of Islamic Women. Brooks is an Australian reporter who spent the late 80s and early 90s doing a lot of Middle East reporting, and spent a lot of time with Muslim women in various Middle Eastern countries at a time when fundamentalism was on the rise and had already triumphed in a few countries. She spoke with women who embraced a return to traditional women's roles (often symbolized by taking on the veil or chador or otherwise covering oneself and turning away from Western fashion and styles) and those who resisted it in countries like Egypt and Lebanon, which had had a more liberated tradition, and those trying to negotiate for greater liberalism for the first time in areas like Saudi Arabia and the gulf states.

Ms. Brooks never takes her own personal reactions and opinions out of picture but examines Islamic beliefs carefully, bringing Islamic history of the first Muslim women, the wives and children of Muhammad himself, and the writings of the Koran and hadiths to bear on the modern day issues. She finds at times surprising amounts of liberation in the thoroughly fundamentalist nation of Iran as well as hidden hypocrisies in supposedly more "forward thinking" countries. She does differentiate between Koranic customs and tribal customs (particularly the practice of female genital mutilations)but does not let Islam off the hook entirely, pointing out that 20% of Muslim women live in areas that practice some form of genital mutilation and yet it is rarely spoken out against and most people who practice it believe it is officially sanctioned by the Koran.

The bulk of Ms. Brooks stories were researched in the late 1980s and early 1990s, a period of great upheaval and change but only the start of another decade and a half of continuing change in the Middle East and the Islamic world in general. I found myself continually wondering what had become of the women she had interviewed, a decade and a half later, and how their opinions had changed or not changed. Alas, Ms. Brooks seems to have left reporting behind for the life of the novelist so the follow up remains for someone else to carry out, but this book still stands as an excellent overview of the varied worlds of Muslim women, even if it is a bit out of date. It's easy to see why it is frequently assigned as a text in college courses and it's well worth a read for any interested layperson curious about Islam and the role of women within it, as well as in a part of the world that remains a central focus of current events and politics.

Geraldine Brooks, a journalist who spent many years in the Middle East as a writer for the Wall Street Journal has written an insightful, original look at the role of women in the world of Islam. It is interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, it is also somewhat superficial.
Each chapter opens with a pertinent quote from the Koran. The chapters themselves deal with such subjects as women's sports in Islamic nations, women's education, women in politics & arranged marriages. Ms. Brooks looks at these issues using examples from the full spectrum of Islamic belief which ranges from the harshness of Saudi Arabia to the liberalism of Turkey & the former Soviet states. Sometimes, however, her anecdotal style & lack of flow between chapters caused frustration in this reader.
Each chapter in the book is a stand-alone essay. There does not seem to be a logical progression in time, geography or understanding. It seems as if each section was re-printed from magazines or newspapers, yet the title pages list no credits that would reflect this; maybe Ms. Brooks did a series of lectures that became "9 Parts of Desire". Whatever the reason, I personally felt the book would have benefited from a more linear progression, as the author immersed herself deeper into the Islamic world. Another option might have been to divide the chapters into discussions of each country, rather than by issue.
What I enjoyed most about this book was the author's very original reading of the Koran & Mohammed's hadiths. As she explains in the first chapter, many of the Koran's revelations concerning the details of women's life came to the Prophet as a result of domestic problems he was experiencing. Her contrasting of the known facts of Mohammed's daily life to modern-day Islamic traditions is quite fascinating as well as valuable. Ms. Brooks also gives the reader some historical background to better understand the evolution of modern Islamic thought.
For the general reader, "9 Parts of Desire" will prove an informative introduction to an alien viewpoint. Almost anyone will find it entertaining & thought-provoking.

Books by journalists tend to contain errors of fact, roughshod generalizations, and questionable judgments. They usually provide masses of routine and well-known information. How refreshing, then, this study of Muslim women by The Wall Street Journal's former Middle East correspondent. It boasts not just a well-researched base but much new information and a strikingly new thesis. Brooks manages that rare mix, the immediacy of a reporter's experience and the solidity of a research paper.
Each chapter in "Nine Parts" deals with an aspect of the female Muslim life, both the usual subjects (virginity, weddings, education) and the less so (commerce, politics, warfare). Perhaps the most colorful chapter deals with the Islamic Women's Games in Iran, where men could attend the opening ceremony but not the actual competitions-so that women could get on the track and strip down to their Lycra shorts.
The most valuable aspect of Brooks's reportage is to show the diversity of fundamentalist Islamic approaches to women. Most striking is the contrast between Saudi Arabia, where women have effectively no public role, and Iran, where they serve in parliament and are steadily pushing back the limits. This leads the author to an unexpected but persuasive conclusion: "I found the brightest hope for positive change camouflaged among the black chadors of devout Iranian women."
Middle East Quarterly, September 1995

As a western muslim woman, I was apprehensive before choosing to read this book. I was concerned that it would be one of the many that confuses cultural misogyny with religion. Although the writer is not muslim (a rather secular Jew), she sincerely attempts to separate the typically anti-woman cultures in the Middle East from their association with Islam, which, as she freely states, gave women dignity and significant individual rights in the 7th century A.D. long before any western women were recognized as thinking, feeling, soul-possessing humans. She historically examines where the divide started - where culture became imbedded in religious thought and doctrines, and how that has adversely affected the life of women in the Middle East for far too long. She also clearly presents how current surges in religious extremism, basically sparked by Zionism in the Middle East, have further aggravated and lowered the social status of muslim women in the region. I am impressed by her research methods, which involved immersing herself in the culture, dressing according to local custom, and befriending muslim women in each country she visited. It is truly a gripping book, and a sad one. But because it is so well-written, it hits all the major issues on the nose and clarifies ones understanding of human rights, not just woman's rights.
It is not, however, representative of Islam. Those readers interested in Islam should read books by the Morrocan muslim scholar Fatima Mernissi or more directly, the Qur'an itself.
Nevertheless, I do have two objections. One is that she did not interview Western muslim women to compare them to the condition of their M.E. counterparts. My other objection is that she does not acknowledge that until the early 1900s, Western women arguably had even fewer rights and priviledges than their Middle Eastern counterparts. Less that 100 years have past since then, and look at women in the West today: surely, we finally have the right to vote, to control conception, to keep earnings, to marry at will, to divorce, etc., but at what cost? When a woman chooses to marry and keep her job in the West, how is she viewed? What is the divorce rate for such marriages? How do the children involved in that union fare? Does a woman feel liberated from her body or is she enslaved by the diet culture? All these questions are equally relevant for the person truly interested in the human condition of the late 20th century.
As a feminist, however, I still believe the book deserves five stars, not just four. This is due to the incredible effort involved in writing it to the best of the ability of the author, Geraldine Brooks, and for overcoming so many of the prejudices Americans typically hold about the Arabs.

Brooks has written an engaging, informative and lively book abt Islamic women. She crosses class and ethnic boundaries to interview women throughout the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Iraq, Israel/Palestine, Jordan). My only minor complaint is that she confines herself to the Middle East---as she argues that Saudi Arabian culture has spread and changed the Islamic world throughout the Middle East I wanted to know what was happening in the Islamic world outside of the Middle East (Indonesia, the former Soviet Republics, Africa etc).

That said, I would still recommend this book highly. Brooks' interviews with women---especially those who opted to wear the hijab and to advocate a restricted life for women in the name of radical/revolutionary Islam---are deeply insightful. I found the picture she painted of the Middle East incredibly tragic. This is a region where oppression of women is rampant. As Brooks herself points out if half of the male citizens of any country were denied their basic human rights, frequently subjected to genital mutilation or death after being raped, there would be an outcry throughout the world. But because we are talking abt Islamic women (many of whom live in oil-rich countries) there has been a reluctance on the part of the US and other industrialized nations to criticize the Middle East.
Brooks' book is not a flat-out criticism of Islam---in fact, she shows through a discussion of 7th century Islamic beliefs and culture that Islam has the potential to create a world where women truly are equal to men and where women and men can enjoy the same rights and privileges. In many ways, Christianity and Judaism lack this potential and so Brooks' insight is especially interesting.
This book should be read by politicians everywhere---not just women. Anyone who cares about human rights will benefit from reading this book.

It is true that many a journalists' effort to write an articulate and informative books on the Middle East (particularly Judith Miller and Thomas Friedman) have been bogged down by their tendency to focus on the extreme situations and exclude the nuances fostered within a religious and cultural system that when applied correctly, is just. In avoiding this tendency, Brooks has written an excellent book. Ms. Brooks spends much of her efforts on understanding what the prophet Mohammed expected of women during his time and how that should be applied today.
Brooks is correct to analyze Saudi Arabia's interpretation as the horrible extreme that is being promoted through much of the Sunni Muslim world. This system has been accepted within a framework of a predominately Whabbi Muslim society and the keepers of the two greatest Islamic holy sites. What sets Brooks apart is that she goes into the homes and speaks with women, underlies the clear contradictions in women's lives and leaves the reader to make their own judgment.
I think that Brooks ends the book with a clear message. When we see the often bloody struggles in which Imams, political leaders and fundamentalists go through to interpret the correct use of the Koran and the Hadiths, we see that religion is in fact and matter of interpretation. Each individual that Brooks spoke with believed that their interpretation was correct. By the end, it is clear that there is no single interpretation that is correct! For this reason, to cement women's social standing through unchangeable laws is ludicrous: there is no one that has the indisputable ability to interpret God's word correctly that will alter half of the populations lives. Islam is clearly a matter of personal interpretation and when put in political hands, it is mangled and dis-formed for political purposes.

This is a fabulous and extensively researched book based upon the award winning author's having lived 6 years in Muslim countries. Much is written about Mohammed's appreciation of and desire for women as well as Ari, husband of Fatima his daughter, who was esteemed and championed female sexuality. A main point is that today women are viewed as the property of males, desirable and, as such, to be kept under cover so that other males will not ravage them. Muslim women are persuaded that keeping themselves clothed under the chador and/or hijab is for their benefit....to preserve the family unit against males who would otherwise be unable to control themselves. About 1/5th of Muslim women accede to having their genitals mutilated to reduce female desire, desirability and attractiveness. Losing a female to another man is the highest personal affront and a dishonor to the family. Recent studies in Britain appear to indicate that portions of the Koran pre-date Mohammed and perhaps are convention as are many matters in Christianity.

Geraldine Brooks, who I knew previously for her novels, was also a foreign correspondant for the Wall Street Journal. When her female assistant, who previously painted her nails and talked about dating at the office, decided to don a veil for modesty, Brooks became curious about the role of women in Islam. She discusses Mohammed's experiences with and teachings on women, as well as the modern interpretations of those teachings and what that means for modern women in Islam. This book was obviously written before 9/11, so it's missing some important changes that have happened as a result of the attacks and would be significantly improved if it were updated, but the current text is still very worthwhile for those of us who don't have much knowledge of Islam or its teachings.

I was in a used bookstore yesterday looking for "Latin American History" books on Che Guevara and THIS paperback fell into my hands. I read 5 pages of "Nine Parts of Desire" was hooked finishing it today. Journalist/Author Geraldine Brooks has written her personal experience of exploring many of the world's fundamentalist Islamic countries -- Pakistan, Palestine, Egypt, Iran, Jordan among others. Upon finishing this book, I am floored at the power Islam has in our world. The Prophet Muhammed was as contradictory in his words as are the contradictions in the many factions of Muslims (Shiite, Sunii, Kurd). I feel that Ms. Brooks has given a clear picture of how women in Islam APPEAR to us in the Judeo/Christian/Buddist/Agnostic rest-of-the world.
...but I can't dispute what the Koran may or may not say. However, the "meat" of Geraldine Brooks's story is her personal experiences. We see the transformation of her assistant, the personalities of her guide, her talks with Ayatollah Khomeni's wife and daughters, lunch with the queen of Jordan and countless other experiences of women in Islam. Each having a varying interpretation of what the prophet Muhammed meant to say. Each wanting to change "their world" but having no real say-so as men make ALL decisions in the end.
...I highly recommend EVERY woman/man of ALL faiths consider reading this book. Its eye-opening and honest! This book is hardly hateful. ANYBODY who could defend horrific acts and treatment of women worldwide needs to look within their hearts and think twice....

In Nine Parts of Desire the author brings us face to face with a range of Muslim women from various countries - Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Eritrea, etc. - and gives us vivid sketches of what life is like for these women.

Some of the women are educated (though what education means for a woman varies from place to place); others are barely literate. Some work outside the home; others rarely leave. Both married and unmarried women feature in the pages of this book - some from rural areas, others from large cities.

What I chiefly liked about the book is that it doesn't shy from showing painful, vicious and puzzling things. Nor does it try to conceal beauty or positive circumstances. The portrait it paints of these women is not simple, but complex. Take one woman whom the author got to know well. She is from Iran, well-educated, who can readily discuss Persian poetry and her country's politics; she also calmly proclaims that Salman Rushdie should die and that Israel should be obliterated. One woman is married, has kids, and wears a veil; yet her husband, rather than keep her home as is his prerogative, is rearranging his business so that she can travel abroad and complete post-graduate work.

More often than not, though, the women worry about whom they will marry. What was often the most painful to read were sections about women trapped in stifling marriages. Even when there wasn't physical abuse, there were limited or nonexistent personal choices (regarding work and travel outside the home, for example), opportunities denied, crushing housework, and pressure to have children, particularly male children. For the vast majority of women in these societies, personal advancement and fulfillment depends on how understanding and progressive their husbands, fathers, brothers or other male relatives are; an opportunity - for work, study, travel - can usually only be available if a man chooses to permit access to it.

The author tries to make sense of what she sees, relating it to the Koran, and attempting to show how, in most cases, the strictest and most oppressive interpretations of the Muslim holy book are adopted, when there could be room for more openness, tolerance, and freedom for women. She also tries to understand why some horrid practices, such as female genital mutilation, that existed prior to Islam were taken up so readily in some parts of the Islamic world. Arguing that these practices were not originally Muslim does not mean that they can be ignored or that criticism is not warranted.

The book offers a very complex portrait of the Muslim women that it presents, and the contradictions within the societies in which they live. Some of the women whole-heartedly defend their societies and support further adoption of fundamentalist religious rules; some try to rebel. There are women who accept and won't go too far in changing the status quo in their lives... yet they have their worries and private criticisms as well, or wish for things that they cannot, in the places they live, have. It's eye-opening to read, and it's wonderful that the author chose to give voice to these various women and, through them, illustrate the societies in which they live. It's also important to learn more about these societies, as more and more Muslims move to the western world; the author raises one example of a British trial case in which a man who murdered his wife got off on a lesser charge rather than premeditated murder, because the jury failed to understand that what he had committed was an honor killing rather than a spur-of-the-moment "crime of passion".

Ms. Brooks presents a wonderfuly accurate portrayal of Islamic women in the Middle East. She does not discuss the more tolerant views of Muslims in Europe, America, or other parts of Asia.
I can only speak for treatment of women in the Arabian Gulf States, and of them, she is VERY ACCURATE! I wish people could come and see for themselves, unfortunately, visitors visas are not issued here. If you want to know the TRUTH of how Arab women are treated and disrespected, please read this insightful book.
I only wish she had had a male write of how men speak of women when the women are not around. After one hears those conversations, you will understand all you need to about a woman's place in society here. The best way to summerize this book is with the following, where Ms. Brooks quotes Iranian, Fatemeh Givechian,"No doubt the policy led to more awareness of one's own gender, but not necessarily any increase in one's knowledge of the opposite gender. Sex segregation to this extent is not natural...There will emerge a dual society of male and female stranger to one another and unaware of each other's anxieties."

Books on Islam generate a lot of controversy these days, especially after 9/11. Having read several I found this one fairly balanced. Brooks is a reporter by trade, which at times leads to a bit of superficiality in the treatment of complex topics but on the whole makes this a relatively dispassionate treatment of women and Islam.
Of course Brooks brings a Western point of view to her subject, and is intensely critical of a system where women are subject to male family members with few personal rights. She is careful to point out that Islamic law does provide for inheritance by women and allows a type of pre-marriage contract that can protect them from the husband's polygamy, give them the right of divorce, establish that their education will be allowed to continue, etc. But one suspects that these privileges are available only to the wealthy as a practical matter.
Brooks is careful to distinguish various Muslim societies from one another, just as one sees huge differences among Christian countries. She along with most authors I've read has little good to say about Saudi Arabia. But interestingly, she identifies Iran as a more progressive society in which women are permitted to work and participate in politics. And Egypt is described as having a lively, sensual culture that she believes will never be snuffed out by fundamentalists.
One of the more disturbing chapters of the book deals with education. The number of women in school is unacceptably low,education often ceases as women are wed at a very early age, and much schooling is focused on the study of Islam. Even more disturbing is the increasing control fundamentalists exert over educational institutions, which results in a student body much more conservative than the faculty who were educated in more open-minded times. And academic freedom has no place here.
Brooks tries to identify areas of repression that she sees as cultural rather than religious. At the same time, she says that Muslims cannot rely on the improvements to womens' lives that occurred during the time of the Prophet to defend Islam today. It is sadly true that any religion that literally relies on a Sacred Text from hundreds of years earlier--Christianity included--will inevitably fail to respect the notions of individual liberty and equality that are the ideals of the modern world.
Brooks' book was written over 6 years ago. The trends she identifies are very disturbing, but except for some vague familiarity with Ayatollah Khomeini, few Americans had any of this on their radar screens before 9/11. A book like this will hopefully lead to some better understanding of this complex subject.

I've been reading various books on Islam, the Middle East, the war, and various related topics for some time now. This book is somewhat unique in that it's not old, but not that new either, having been written a decade ago. The author, is a convert from Catholicism to Judaism, a native of Australia who now lives in the States with her author husband (Tony Horwitz of "Confederates in the Attic"). She went to the Middle East as a correspondent in the early 90s, and wrote this book in an attempt to understand the plight and situation of women who are Muslim. The result is very interesting, a clear and illuminating account of the different situations women face in various Muslim countries, and how these things are changing. Because the book is a decade old, things have of course changed a bit here and there; but the differences she outlines are there, regardless, and very interesting.

For instance, the author makes it clear that while Iran is a fundamentalist Muslim state, the status of women in the country is much better there than it is in our supposed ally, Saudi Arabia. Iranian women hold offices in their government (there are even deputy ministers), can have driver's licenses, and walk the streets safely, admittedly while robed. In Saudi Arabia they can't do any of those things, and of course the author makes it clear that the government there suppresses dissent out of fear that they'll wind up like the Shah.

Brooks looks at the society and its attitude towards women in various parts of the Arab world. She even comes rather close to getting raped at one point, and spends a lot of time talking with various women, and of course with men who talk to her about the role of women in their countries.

I enjoyed this book a good deal. The author has a sense of humor, recounting the incident where Muslim Clerical Police showed up at a university in Beirut to arrest Thomas Aquinas, because they found some of his writings objectionable. She illuminates her points well, and discusses the issues involved carefully. I don't know that I agree with all of her points (she's more confident that the Iranian Revolutionary government is positive) but she makes them well. I would recommend this book highly.

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.

Although numerous reviews are already at hand I feel compeled to add a few words about this excellent book.
I would like to remind readers that this book was published in 1995, several years before 9.11 and the subsequent US examination of the Muslim world.
The strength of this book is first of all in the quality of writing. The chapters go down as easily as water without losing any poignancy or relevance.
While Ms Brooks was certainly dismayed by much of what she found in the countries she visited she has made a sincere effort to understand the women that she met and their Islamic position. She has not written caricatures for us but real life storis that are completely credible. They speak for themselves.
An intersting insight for example is how strict enforcement of Islamic dress in Iran effectively liberated many village women while at the same time virtually imprisoning others.
If she has a case to make it is that certain MEN, not Islam is harming women in many Muslim countries and this need not go hand in hand.
This book is highly recommended for any man or woman who is interested in the situation of women and wishes greater insight into this facet of the Muslim world.