The Veil And The Male Elite: A Feminist Interpretation Of Women's Rights In Islam

by Fatima Mernissi

Overview

Convinced that the veil is a symbol of unjust male authority over women, in The Veil and the Male Elite, Moroccan feminist Fatima Mernissi aims to investigate the origins of the practice in the first Islamic community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780201632217
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	12/21/1992
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	886,455
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

Fatema Mernissi teaches sociology at University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. She is the author of more than eight books, including Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood, Scheherazade Goes West, The Veil and the Male Elite, and Beyond the Veil.

Editorial Reviews

Mernissi (sociology, U. of Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco) examines whether Islam is opposed to women's rights by focusing on the early year's of Islam and Mohammed's intention of creating an egalitarian society without slaves or sexual discrimination. Her work stands as a manifesto for Muslim women who strive for full human rights on the one hand and access to an inspirational religious tradition on the other; she asserts that it is the political and economic interests of a male elite--not the dictates of the religion--that are responsible for the denial of rights to women. Translated from the French Le harem politique (Editions Albin Michel S.A., 1987), with a new preface. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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