Islam, Gender, and Social Change

by Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad, John L. Esposito (Editor)

For several decades, the Muslim world has experienced a religious resurgence. The reassertion of Islam in personal and political life has taken many forms, from greater attention to religious practice to the emergence of Islamic organizations, movements, and institutions. One of the most controversial and emotionally charged aspects of this revival has been its effect on women in Muslim societies.The essays collected in this book place this issue in its historical context and offer case studies of Muslim societies from North Africa to Southeast Asia. These fascinating studies shed light on the impact of the Islamic resurgence on gender issues in Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Oman, Bahrain, the Philippines, and Kuwait. Taken together, the essays reveal the wide variety that exists among Muslim societies and believers, and the complexity of the issues under consideration. They show that new things are happening for women across the Islamic world, and are in many cases being initiated by women themselves. The volume as a whole militates against the stereotype of Muslim women as repressed, passive, and without initiative, while acknowledging the very real obstacles to women's initiatives in most of these societies.

Genres: Islam, Womens

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad (born in Syria in 1935) is Professor of the History of Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. Her interests and focus include contemporary Islam; intellectual, social and political history in the Arab world; Islam in the West; Quranic Exegesis; and gender and Islam. Haddad's current research focuses on Muslims in the West and on Islamic Revolutionary Movements. She has published extensively in the field of Islamic studies.

Haddad has been described as "at the top of her field in the study of Muslims in America" and "the foremost interpreter of the Islamic experience in the United States." She is the leading figure in a school of thought that sees the key issue for Muslims in the USA as being the conflict between traditional Islamic values and integration into mainstream US society.

Haddad received her Ph.D. in the Economic, Political Development, and Islamic Heritage in 1979 from Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, and her Master's degree in Comparative History 1971 from the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Additionally, she attended Boston University, where she received an M.R.E. in Religious Education and Leadership Development in 1966, and the Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. She was also Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Yvonne Haddad describes herself as a Presbyterian. She emigrated to the United States in 1963.

Reviews

[Opinionated Hijabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book among many discussing Islam and gender; the fact that they discussed social change simultaneously (and as an obvious goal- since perhaps many sociological or anthropological books about culture seem to look at social change) lends great depth to their conclusions and stories. Since the Islamic world, and Muslim majority countries are so diverse and widespread I would have liked to see more countries written about; however, that would result in a very large volume.
The book is not too long or too dry, but as an academically researched piece it is also not a page-turner or exciting read. It is never short on insight into culture & social change in a region where we often focus on the status of women.
Interesting read for Middle East studies, Muslim feminists, Asian studies, Women's Studies and various other focuses.

[Hafsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The essays in this book detangle any notions of the tradition-modernity divide and showcase how gender relations in Muslim societies are about class, political and economic power as much as they are about religious faith and identity. Some essays also highlight the conflicting roles played by both the state and Islamist (usually oppositional) parties.