Fülszöveg
mSTOKY,'ISLAM
PRAISE FOR
«.SCIMITAR Wi/'AH^IL
"The Scimitar and the Veil is a delightful read. Jennifer Heath has drawn a discerning
historical portrait of women in Islam, rich with the teachers, rulers, rebels, and seductresses whose legacies of empowerment continue to shape the lives of Muslim women today. What better way to silence the uninformed cries against Islam than to let the bold and sparkling lives of powerful Muslim women speak for themselves."
-DAISY KHAN, Executive Director, ASMA Society (American Sufi Muslim Association)
"Gathering and retelling dozens of stories. Heath offers a welcome look at the images and contributions of scores of remarkable women as generations of Muslims have known them. She surveys the women's narratives using a broad typology that embraces virtually every conceivable social and religious status and role. Readers will be amazed and fascinated at the rich variety of characters and personalities available here in Heath's expansive and engaging presentation."
-PROF. JOHN RENARD, St. Louis University, author of .Smv; Doors ta Islam
"A wide survey across the ages that takes the reader, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, into mind-expanding territory. If you thought you knew what being a Muslim woman
was all about, read again!"
-MICHAEL WOLFE . author of Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith
"Jennifer Heath writes of the women of Islam with great love, wisdom, and perceptive insight. In a time when the embracing of the Divine Feminine may be crucial to world survival. Heath dispels myths and misconceptions and truly elucidates the role of individual women and the feminine principles in the spiritual traditions of Islam."
-DEBRA DENKER author of Sisters on the Bridge of Fire: One Woman's Journey in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan
"Jennifer Heath smashes the stereotype that Muslim women only exist as second-class
citizens. The Scimitar and the Veil tells the amazing stories of just some of the extraordinary women who shaped Islamic history, beginning with the women who deeply influenced the life of Muhammad and profoundly impacted the early development of the religion. If you want to better understand the lives of Muslim women in all their incredible complexity and diversity, read this book."
i^ -ALEX KRONEMER, producer of the PBS documentar>
B^^ Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
K]
it is often said that two-thirds of the religion of Islam was handed down by women and one-third was shaped by women. "Of worldly things," the Prophet Muhammad said, "women and fragrance are made dear to me and the comfort of my eyes is made in prayer."
Muhammad was born to a widowed mother, tended by a female slave, and fostered by a Bedouin woman. Throughout his life, women were among his closest friends and companions, and they fought by his side for Islam. His marriage to Khadija, a wealthy businesswoman from Mecca, was long, fruitful, and faithful. She was the first to convert to Islam, and she bore Muhammad four daughters whom he greatly adored. He relied on one of his later wives, Umm Salamah, for sage military and political advice, and he experienced Revelations in the presence of his wife Aisha. It is no exaggeration to say that the community of Muslims worldwide originated with women.
The Scimitar and the Veil is the first popular history and overview of Muslim women and their great accomplishments. It portrays over fifty extraordinary Muslim women, from the birth of Islam in the seventh century CE through the nineteenth century, including the women who played a crucial role in Muhammad's life, as well as scholars of the Hadith, saints and mystics, queens and warriors, rebels and concubines, and outstanding poets, musicians, and storytellers.
Based on sources ranging from Swahili lore to Persian pageant plays to Muslim feminist writings
(continuedfrom front flap)
to the explorations of Western scholars of Islam, The Scimitar and the Veil is written in a poetic, energetic, contemporary, and sometimes humorous style that will appeal to a broad range of readers.
Including such remarkable individuals like Barakah, Muhammad's surrogate mother, and Fatima, his cherished daughter; the Sufi mystics Rabi'a of Basra and Jahanara of the Mughal dynasty; Khurrem, favorite concubine and later wife of Suleyman the Magnificent; famous singer Olayya, half sister of Harun al-Rashid; and the poets Al-Khansa, Maisuna, and Mihri Khatun— Jennifer Heath has collected and crafted a great treasure of knowledge about the women of Islam into one fascinating, provocative, and beautiful book.
JENNIFER HEATH is an award-winning author and journalist. The daughter of an American diplomat, she grew up in Latin America and Afghanistan and has traveled widely all her life. She is the author of several other books, including The Echoing Green: The Garden in Myth and Memory, On the Edge of Dream: The Women of Celtic Myth and Legend, Black Velvet: The Art W^ Love to Hate, and A House White with Sorrow: A Ballad for Afghanistan. Together with her husband, the poet Jack Collum, she lives in Boulder, Colorado.
¦I
Vissza 
Folytatás Microsoft-tal