The Veil and the Male Elite : a Feminist Interpretation of Women's Rights in Islam
This is a thorough re-interpretation of the Koranic sura and hadith related to women, premised on placing the words of the Prophet within their political and historical context. It is for the most part a persuasive reading of the sources, at least for a non-Muslim. It should be noted that this kind of original interpretation (which Mernissi pursues along much the same lines as does Abou el Fadl, mentioned above) is somewhat heretical in modern Islam, the door to ijtihad having been closed for Sunni Muslims at the completion of the work of the Islamic jurists near the end of the Abbasid period (although for Shia Muslims this door has never closed). Published in 1987, this book appears to be a foundational text for most Islamic feminists, but is also well worth reading for the very detailed description of the life of the Prophet and the history of the Rightly-Guided Caliphs alone. What a story! It's too bad that depicting the life of Muhammad is the sort of thing that can get a person killed, because this drama has everything: sex, romance, political intrigue, family squabbles, colorful pagans, assassinations, and war, war, war, all with deadly important religious and political implications that echo down through the ages to the present day. The movie would totally kick The Ten Commandments to the curb if it were given a proper budget.