About the Author

Asma Barlas is a Pakistani-American writer and academic. She is currently a professor of politics at Ithaca College. She earned a BA in English Literature and Philosophy from Kinnaird College, an MA in Journalism from the University of the Punjab, and an MA and PhD in International Studies from the University of Denver. Barlas was previously the founding director of the Center for the Study of Culture, Race and Ethnicity at Ithaca College for twelve years, and held the Spinoza Chair in Philosophy at the University of Amsterdam. Her other books include Re-understanding Islam: A Double Critique and Islam, Muslims, and the US: Essays on Religion and Politics.

Reviews

`This is an original and, at times, ground-breaking piece of scholarship.' John L. Esposito, University Professor and Founding Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University; `[A] brilliantly executed work . . . A new generation of scholar-activists . . . will take cues from such a study to open up interpretations and modes of Islamic praxis that will resonate with the avowedly non-repressive divine intentions for Muslim and other faith communities worldwide.' Arab Studies Journal; `Barlas's thesis is irresistible: the Qur'an itself has a very positive view of women whereas patriarchal culture caused the various interpreters of the Qur'an to read their own biases into the text to justify the oppression of women. Barlas quotes from a smorgasbord of Islamic scholars, resulting at times in a choppy read that drowns out her own more appealing voice. The opening chapter is bogged down in such quoting, and also in excessive worrying over her critics on either side of the debate. Despite these flaws, this book is loaded with interesting facts about Islam that may even surprise Muslims' Publishers Weekly; `A refreshing read ... a unique analysis that underscores the exclusively the role of women in Islam' New Arab