Nine Parts of Desire : the Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks (1995)

After an interesting phone conversation with a patron at work, I realized that Geraldine Brooks, the author of People of the Book, has written other books, and her first is this amazing non-fiction book about Islamic women. As a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, she had ample opportunity to interview and befriend women in Egypt, Jordon, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Eritrea, and other countries. She somehow pulls it all together in logical chapters about marriage, political power, education, work, the Queen (Noor of Jordan), etc.

This is the best explanation I have ever read and helps me understand the different levels of Islamic restrictions for women. Brooks is well versed in the Koran and the life of the prophet Mohamed, so she can show where different practices arose, and where they are inconsistent with the Koran or the prophet's life. I am in total awe or this woman, who being Jewish, took on wearing the coverings required by the women in each country. Ballsy woman. She was also able to explain the difference between the Shiites and Sunnis. Not that it makes logical sense, but at least I have some understanding now. I think my strongest gut reaction to the unfairness of the treatment of women arose from her stories about how Mohammed's revelations from God about women came in response to his own household situation. The multiple wives for the sake of alliances is still happening - reflecting the old European marriage patterns - like Marie Antoinette being an alliance between France and Austria. Of course, sometimes a new wife is taken to bear sons.

Though probably many men would enjoy total control over their women, I still don't understand why it has remained so ingrained in the Middle East culture. Though there are more liberal countries, seems that all Islamic women face more inequality than women in most other countries. Though some progress has been made (like outlawing clitoridectomies in hospitals of at least one country), there has been a conservative backlash in most of these countries. I would really like to read an update of how women have fared in the different countries in the 13 years since the book was published.