Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out Book

This isn't my favorite book I've read on Muslim women.

The whole book is filled with similar political sentiments about Zionism, Israel, the US, etc. I didn't know when I started this book it was so overtly political. In the forward to the book by Nawal el Saadawi, she imagines herself as a suicide bomber killing George Bush and the complicit Arab leaders. El Saadawi even mentions two young female suicide bombers, Waifa Idris and Ayat al-Akhras.

The first essay included is Fawzia Afzal-Khan's essay about Zionism and Israel. It's in this essay that Afzal-Khan also says headscarves are a form of subservience to patriarchy (because concepts of fitna and sexual chaos are applied by men to women's bodies), once again confirming stereotypes about Muslim women. Then she implicitly refers to veiled women as "victims" and questions whether they are really making an independent choice to veil.

Most of the opening non-fiction essays, and much of the other content, deals with Muslim women's experiences post 9/11. This is the strongest part of the book.

Minno Moallem's article was so academic I found it near incomprehensible. Afsaneh Najmabadi's article arguing for intervention in Iraq is outdated and clearly was not effective.

The biggest problem with the first section, and really the whole book in general, is that it's too long. There are too many essays.

I did enjoy some of the poetry like Mohja Kahf's poem. There is just too much poetry though.

The religious discourses section has articles from Mohja Kahf, Azizah al-Hibri, and Riffat Hassan. al-Hibri's article feels very basic compared to her other work. Mohja Kahf's writing is on an introductory level as well. Then there is the interview with Rifat Hassan on her remarks about Farhat Hashmi and Asma Jahangir which is not a good representation of her work compared to many of her articles.

The final section is plays. The section is just too long and there's too many plays.

There is a common assumption throughout the book the reader will be familiar with Islamic teachings, social justice terminology, and academic terminology. On the other hand, the essays in the religious discourses section are clearly meant for a person just beginning to learn about women in Islam. The Riffat Hassan interview was confusing without any context even to me. The book doesn't really represent "Muslim women", but a tiny segment of scholars, writers, journalists, and poets mostly adhering to leftist political beliefs and liberal religious beliefs.

This book could have been much better if they axed about a 1/3 of the content. The "religious discourses" section should be in the front to provide some context for the reader on women in Islam, but it's in the middle. There are many great Riffat Hassan essays that could have been included. There should have been more consistency in the non-fiction essays with less politics and more essays about Muslim women. A glossary would have helped as well because of the many, many foreign terms used. Many of the works probably needed introductory descriptions for context.

I really did like some of the poetry, non-fiction essays, and fiction, but I don't think this book really represents Muslim women. Also, reading this book with no background on Islam would be one confusing experience.

I prefer "Living Islam Out Loud" and "I Speak for Myself" to this book.