Download A Quiet Revolution The Veil Resurgence from the Middle East to America Leila Ahmed 9780300181432 Books

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51SVazIq5cL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
Download As PDF : A Quiet Revolution The Veil Resurgence from the Middle East to America Leila Ahmed 9780300181432 Books

In Cairo in the 1940s, Leila Ahmed was raised by a generation of women who never dressed in the veils and headscarves their mothers and grandmothers had worn. To them, these coverings seemed irrelevant to both modern life and Islamic piety. Today, however, the majority of Muslim women throughout the Islamic world again wear the veil. Why, Ahmed asks, did this change take root so swiftly, and what does this shift mean for women, Islam, and the West?

When she began her study, Ahmed assumed that the veil's return indicated a backward step for Muslim women worldwide. What she discovered, however, in the stories of British colonial officials, young Muslim feminists, Arab nationalists, pious Islamic daughters, American Muslim immigrants, violent jihadists, and peaceful Islamic activists, confounded her expectations. Ahmed observed that Islamism, with its commitments to activism in the service of the poor and in pursuit of social justice, is the strain of Islam most easily and naturally merging with western democracies' own tradition of activism in the cause of justice and social change. It is often Islamists, even more than secular Muslims, who are at the forefront of such contemporary activist struggles as civil rights and women's rights. Ahmed's surprising conclusions represent a near reversal of her thinking on this topic.

Richly insightful, intricately drawn, and passionately argued, this absorbing story of the veil's resurgence, from Egypt through Saudi Arabia and into the West, suggests a dramatically new portrait of contemporary Islam.

Download A Quiet Revolution The Veil Resurgence from the Middle East to America Leila Ahmed 9780300181432 Books

"This book is an incredibly well written history and well backed argument about the resurgence of the veil now and the reasons for the veil in the past and today. I can honestly say that Leila Ahmed has changed my perspective about veiling and the Muslim religion's connection to people. She gives reams upon reams of evidence and facts about the veil and the women who do or do not wear it. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to widen their perspective or to simply learn more about muslim women in the Middle East and America."

Product details Paperback 360 pages Publisher Yale University Press; 5.6.2012 edition (June 5, 2012) Language English ISBN-10 0300181434

Tags : A Quiet Revolution The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America [Leila Ahmed] on . <P>In Cairo in the 1940s, Leila Ahmed was raised by a generation of women who never dressed in the veils and headscarves their mothers and grandmothers had worn. To them,Leila Ahmed,A Quiet Revolution The Veil's Resurgence, from the Middle East to America,Yale University Press,0300181434,Customs Traditions,Islam - History,Women's Studies - General,Hijab (Islamic clothing) - Middle East,Hijab (Islamic clothing) - United States,Hijab (Islamic clothing);Middle East.,Hijab (Islamic clothing);United States.,Muslim women - Clothing - Middle East,Muslim women - Clothing - United States,Veils - Middle East,Veils - United States,Veils;Middle East.,General Adult,Hijab (Islamic clothing),Islamic studies,MUSLIMS,Middle East,Non-Fiction,RELIGION / Islam / History,Religion - World Religions,Religion/Islam - History,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs Traditions,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies,Social Science,Social Science/Customs Traditions,Sociology,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States,Veils,WOMEN IN ISLAM,Women's Studies,Women's Studies - General,RELIGION / Islam / History,Religion/Islam - History,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Customs Traditions,SOCIAL SCIENCE / Women's Studies,Social Science/Customs Traditions,Religion - World Religions,Hijab (Islamic clothing),Middle East,United States,Veils,Muslims,Women In Islam,Social Science,Sociology,Islamic studies

A Quiet Revolution The Veil Resurgence from the Middle East to America Leila Ahmed 9780300181432 Books Reviews :

A Quiet Revolution The Veil Resurgence from the Middle East to America Leila Ahmed 9780300181432 Books Reviews

• As other reviewers have noted, veiling gets less attention in this book than might be surmised from the title. Ahmed began the research that led to this book as a study of veiling, but the final product is really a book about modern Islamic socio-political activism, which Ahmed calls "Islamism" in keeping with academic usage, and of which veiling had been a typical manifestation. Ahmed traces its emergence in Egypt with the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, its transmigration onto US soil and its eventual transformation into a distinctly American brand of civic-minded Islam. What I found particularly compelling is the internal plot of Ahmed's changing perceptions. She starts by intimating the us-vs-them attitude toward Islamists prevalent in the cultural milieu to which she belongs. She doesn't romanticize this movement along the way, but as she shares with the reader new things she learns about it, her surprise is sometimes palpable on the page. When the book ends with a sort of tribute to the Muslim American activists who are heirs to the Islamist tradition, one can't help being impressed both by the happy ironies of history and by Ahmed's remarkably open mind.
• The focus of this book is on modern Egypt and then America. That makes it very timely. In some ways the modern history of Egypt overwhelms the focus on the veil, but that is appropriate. The veil should not be the primary focus, since it is a sign and representation of a larger political context. that is the point.
  In the latter part of the book the focus shifts to America. Here again the veil is put in the context of a much larger development of Muslim society in America - if one can speak of "a" Muslim society.
  My one concern with this book is that she refers to the leadership of the largest Muslim organizations in America, generically, as Muslim Brotherhood. I see the point that she is making. The form of Islam that has become normative in the Islamic Society of North America has an intentional piety that might be associated with the Muslim brotherhood in Egypt. I question how accurate it is to carry that description over to America, as if somehow various American Muslim organizations are extensions of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. They are not, even if some of the practices look similar.
  This book is rigorous in its research but at the same time personal and sensitive.
• I thought this book was going to concentrate more on the hijab subject, but what it mainly talks about is the history of Egypt's colonization and the Muslim brotherhood. I feel that it barely talks about the hijab revolution as it says. I am happy to be able to understand more about Egypts developement, but don't think this book has the correct name.
• I like when Ahmed writes about women's lives and stories-she get's too bogged down in academia, she gives the whole history of the Muslim Brotherhood, and while interesting, not what I had expected. Had to put it down, will get back to it when I want a history lesson. A good reference book, just overly detailed on what I thought were esoteric topics.
• As a hijabi, I found it very interesting to learn about the origins and history of hijab. I wasn't expecting it to be quite so academic and it was a little dry sometimes, but great info to know.
• I was curious about the issue of women choosing to wear the veil particularly in Egypt in the 1070's and this book did a very good job illuminating the circumstances where women made the shocking-at-the-time choice to adopt the veil. This is a very quick and easy read.
• I have not quite finished this book but I am learning so much. Dr. Ahmed does an incredible job of explaining the history of the veil in certain countries and helps Westerners such as myself have a greater understanding of the background of the Islamists. I recommend this to everyone in the United States to read this for better understanding of the complexities of Islam today.
• This book is an incredibly well written history and well backed argument about the resurgence of the veil now and the reasons for the veil in the past and today. I can honestly say that Leila Ahmed has changed my perspective about veiling and the Muslim religion's connection to people. She gives reams upon reams of evidence and facts about the veil and the women who do or do not wear it. I would recommend this book to anyone looking to widen their perspective or to simply learn more about muslim women in the Middle East and America.