Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Acknowledgments to the first edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Acknowledgments to the second edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Publisher's Preface
- Introduction to Islamic Societies
- Part I The Beginnings of Islamic Civilizations
- The Middle East from c. 600 TO c. 1000
- The Preaching of Islam
- The Arab-Muslim Imperium (632–945)
- Cosmopolitan Islam: The Islam of The Imperial Elite
- Urban Islam: The Islam of Scholars and Holy Men
- Women, Families, and Communities
- Chapter 17 Muslim Urban Societies to the Tenth Century
- Chapter 18 The non-Muslim Minorities
- Chapter 19 Continuity and Change in the Historic Cultures of the Middle East
- Part II From Islamic Community to Islamic Society
- Part III The Global Expansion of Islam from the Seventh to the Nineteenth Centuries
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliography from A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd Edition
- Index
Chapter 17 - Muslim Urban Societies to the Tenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 February 2013
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Figures
- List of Maps
- List of Tables
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- Acknowledgments to the first edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Acknowledgments to the second edition of A History of Islamic Societies
- Publisher's Preface
- Introduction to Islamic Societies
- Part I The Beginnings of Islamic Civilizations
- The Middle East from c. 600 TO c. 1000
- The Preaching of Islam
- The Arab-Muslim Imperium (632–945)
- Cosmopolitan Islam: The Islam of The Imperial Elite
- Urban Islam: The Islam of Scholars and Holy Men
- Women, Families, and Communities
- Chapter 17 Muslim Urban Societies to the Tenth Century
- Chapter 18 The non-Muslim Minorities
- Chapter 19 Continuity and Change in the Historic Cultures of the Middle East
- Part II From Islamic Community to Islamic Society
- Part III The Global Expansion of Islam from the Seventh to the Nineteenth Centuries
- Glossary
- Bibliography
- Annotated Bibliography from A History of Islamic Societies, 2nd Edition
- Index
Summary
Women and Family (co-author, Lena Salaymeh)
Of the topics that we have discussed thus far, the position of women in Muslim societies is the most controversial. It requires a digression to discuss the political, cultural, and methodological considerations that shape our views. Contemporary European and American public discourses are driven by religious rivalry, geopolitical issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and ongoing wars in the Middle East. This situation promotes an atmosphere of suspicion, prejudice, and hostility toward Islam and Muslims. These same considerations also motivate widespread Muslim hostility against the West.
A key theme in this atmosphere of conflict is the position of women in Muslim families, communities, and countries. Westerners often allege that in Muslim societies women are oppressed and subordinated to men, without opportunities for independence, education and careers, or the cultivation of their talents and full potentials. Islamic law is perceived as discriminating against women, and Islamist demands for a return to Shariʿa are understood as being a campaign against the emancipation of women. The wearing of the veil or the burqa is viewed as the foremost sign of this subordination.
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- Information
- Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth CenturyA Global History, pp. 181 - 192Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012