What do you think?
Rate this book
O harém político: o Profeta e as mulheres
Em O harém político: o Profeta e as mulheres, a socióloga marroquina Fatima Mernissi investiga as raízes da exclusão feminina na política islâmica. Partindo da promessa original do Islã, o de uma comunidade democrática em que homens e mulheres participariam conjuntamente das decisões, Mernissi analisa como essa visão foi gradualmente distorcida ao longo dos séculos, transformando-se em um sistema patriarcal que relegou as mulheres ao espaço privado.
Com rigor histórico e uma pesquisa minuciosa de fontes religiosas, como os hadiths e os relatos da vida do Profeta Muhammad, a autora reconstrói a Medina do século VII, revelando um cenário no qual as mulheres não apenas discutiam política, mas participavam de batalhas, influenciavam decisões públicas e desafiavam as normas. Entre essas mulheres, destacam-se as esposas do Profeta — em especial Aicha e Umm Salma —, figuras centrais que, segundo Mernissi, foram silenciadas por interpretações posteriores que buscavam consolidar o poder masculino.
Ao questionar essas leituras tradicionais, O harém político propõe uma releitura feminista do Islã, mostrando que a exclusão das mulheres não é uma exigência religiosa, mas uma construção histórica que pode ser revertida, desde que haja interesse político.
Com rigor histórico e uma pesquisa minuciosa de fontes religiosas, como os hadiths e os relatos da vida do Profeta Muhammad, a autora reconstrói a Medina do século VII, revelando um cenário no qual as mulheres não apenas discutiam política, mas participavam de batalhas, influenciavam decisões públicas e desafiavam as normas. Entre essas mulheres, destacam-se as esposas do Profeta — em especial Aicha e Umm Salma —, figuras centrais que, segundo Mernissi, foram silenciadas por interpretações posteriores que buscavam consolidar o poder masculino.
Ao questionar essas leituras tradicionais, O harém político propõe uma releitura feminista do Islã, mostrando que a exclusão das mulheres não é uma exigência religiosa, mas uma construção histórica que pode ser revertida, desde que haja interesse político.
248 pages, Paperback
Published October 24, 2025
About the author
Fatema Mernissi
47 books729 followersAKA فاطمة المرنيسي
Mernissi was born into a middle-class family. She received her primary education in a school established by the nationalist movement, and secondary level education in an all-girls school funded by the French protectorate. In 1957, she studied political science at the Sorbonne and at Brandeis University, where she earned her doctorate. She returned to work at the Mohammed V University and taught at the Faculté des Lettres between 1974 and 1981 on subjects such as methodology, family sociology and psycho-sociology. She has become noted internationally mainly as an Islamic feminist.
As an Islamic feminist, Mernissi was largely concerned with Islam and women's roles in it, analyzing the historical development of Islamic thought and its modern manifestation. Through a detailed investigation of the nature of the succession to Muhammad, she cast doubt on the validity of some of the hadith (sayings and traditions attributed to him), and therefore the subordination of women that she saw in Islam, but not necessarily in the Qur'an.
As a sociologist, Mernissi did fieldwork mainly in Morocco. On several occasions in the late 1970s and early 1980s she conducted interviews in order to map prevailing attitudes to women and work. She did sociological research for UNESCO and ILO as well as for the Moroccan authorities. In the late 1970s and in the 1980s Mernissi contributed articles to periodicals and other publications on women in Morocco and women and Islam from a contemporary as well as from a historical perspective.
In 2003, Mernissi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award along with Susan Sontag.
Mernissi was a lecturer at the Mohammed V University of Rabat and a research scholar at the University Institute for Scientific Research, in the same city.
Mernissi was born into a middle-class family. She received her primary education in a school established by the nationalist movement, and secondary level education in an all-girls school funded by the French protectorate. In 1957, she studied political science at the Sorbonne and at Brandeis University, where she earned her doctorate. She returned to work at the Mohammed V University and taught at the Faculté des Lettres between 1974 and 1981 on subjects such as methodology, family sociology and psycho-sociology. She has become noted internationally mainly as an Islamic feminist.
As an Islamic feminist, Mernissi was largely concerned with Islam and women's roles in it, analyzing the historical development of Islamic thought and its modern manifestation. Through a detailed investigation of the nature of the succession to Muhammad, she cast doubt on the validity of some of the hadith (sayings and traditions attributed to him), and therefore the subordination of women that she saw in Islam, but not necessarily in the Qur'an.
As a sociologist, Mernissi did fieldwork mainly in Morocco. On several occasions in the late 1970s and early 1980s she conducted interviews in order to map prevailing attitudes to women and work. She did sociological research for UNESCO and ILO as well as for the Moroccan authorities. In the late 1970s and in the 1980s Mernissi contributed articles to periodicals and other publications on women in Morocco and women and Islam from a contemporary as well as from a historical perspective.
In 2003, Mernissi was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award along with Susan Sontag.
Mernissi was a lecturer at the Mohammed V University of Rabat and a research scholar at the University Institute for Scientific Research, in the same city.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
No one has reviewed this book yet.