Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia that has been under the leadership of President Nursultan Nazarbayev since independence in 1991, has proven that a mostly Muslim nation can be active on the international scene. Its leaders have worked fervently to bridge the ugly schism that has developed since the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent invasions of Arab and Muslim lands byWestern forces. How has Kazakhstan been able to maintain its Muslim heritage yet remain on track toward modernization while other Muslim countries have imposed strict Shari'a law upon their citizens, clamped down on individual freedoms, and persecuted all who do not adhere to the diktat of the ruling theocracy? Claude Salhani examines the successful phenomenon of Kazakhstan today.He looks at the progress it has attained in just two decades since independence. While there is no doubt as to the Muslim identity of the country,Kazakhstan is living proof that there can be a "kinder, gentler" mode of Islam, in which one can live at peace with oneself and with one's neighbors, despite their differences.

Until now the bulk of the literature about the veil has been written by outsiders who do not themselves veil. This literature often assumes a condescending tone about veiled women, assuming that they are making uninformed decisions choices about veiling makes them subservient to a patriarchal culture and religion. “Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil” offers an alternative viewpoint, based on the thoughts and experiences of Muslim women themselves. This is the first time a clear and concise book-length argument has been made for the compatibility between veiling and modernity. Katherine Bullock uncovers positive aspects of the veil that are frequently not perceived by outsiders. “Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil” looks at the colonial roots of the negative Western stereotype of the veil. It presents interviews with Muslim women to discover their thoughts and experiences with the veil in Canada. The book also offers a positive theory of veiling. The author argues that in consumer capitalist cultures, women can find wearing the veil a liberation from the stifling beauty game that promotes unsafe and unhealthy ideal body images for women. This book also includes an extensive bibliography on topics related to Muslim women and the veil.

In an environment of increasing conservatism, in a world where a woman's right to wear the headscarf has become a touchstone for issues of all sorts, and at a time when racial and religious profiling has become commonplace, it is our political and social

An unprecedented, sympathetic, and wide-ranging exploration of the mysterious world of Islamic women--the people behind the veils--is presented by female writers and Christian workers.

"This anthology of personal essays from around the globe demystifies the individual significance of the veil by taking you inside the hearts and minds of those who have experienced it first hand. How do different societies relate to a veiled woman? Can covering the hair be an act of defiance and empowerment? Can the veil be seen as an expression of one's own sensuality? Part academic and part confessional, the stories inside help answer these questions by moving beyond the religious significance attached to this controversial stretch of fabric. Instead they explore the psychological, sociological and spiritual implications of veiling, giving voice to men and women of varied religious and cultural backgrounds who have been touched by the veil." -- Back cover.

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things. The veil can be an instrument of feminist empowerment, and veiled anonymity can confer power to women. Starting from her own marriage ceremony at which she first wore a full veil, Rafia Zakaria examines how veils do more than they get credit for. Part memoir and part philosophical investigation, Veil questions that what is seen is always good and free, and that what is veiled can only signal servility and subterfuge. From personal encounters with the veil in France (where it is banned) to Iran (where it is compulsory), Zakaria shows how the garment's reputation as a pre-modern relic is fraught and up for grabs. The veil is an object in constant transformation, whose myriad meanings challenge the absolute truths of patriarchy. Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

A probing study of the veil's recent return—from one of the world's foremost authorities on Muslim women—that reaches surprising conclusions about contemporary Islam's place in the West todayIn 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.

Islam, Christianity, and Judaism share several common features, including their historical origins in the prophet Abraham, their belief in a single divine being, and their modern global expanse. Yet it is the seeming closeness of these “Abrahamic” religions that draws attention to the real or imagined differences between them. This volume examines Abrahamic cultures as minority groups in societies which may be majority Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, or self-consciously secular. The focus is on the relationships between these religious identities in global Diaspora, where all of them are confronted with claims about national and individual difference. The case studies range from colonial Hong Kong and Victorian London to today’s San Francisco and rural India. Each study shows how complex such relationships can be and how important it is to situate them in the cultural, ethnic, and historical context of their world. The chapters explore ritual practice, conversion, colonization, immigration, and cultural representations of the differences between the Abrahamic religions. An important theme is how the complex patterns of interaction among these religions embrace collaboration as well as conflict—even in the modern Middle East. This work by authors from several academic disciplines on a topic of crucial importance will be of interest to scholars of history, theology, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as to the general reader interested in how minority groups have interacted and coexisted. “This is a groundbreaking collection of original, learned, and cutting-edge essays on various aspects of the three major monotheistic religions in modern times. The subjects of the essays range across the globe, from Hong Kong and South Asia to Victorian Britain and Weimar Germany, and teach us to see each tradition, and all three traditions together, in new and original ways. A distinctive contribution.” —Steven T. Katz, Boston University “Judaism, Christianity, and Islam is remarkable for bringing together accessible scholarly essays, each with keen insight, exploring the diverse ‘Abrahamic’ cultures and their complex interactions. As the human landscape of Europe continues to evolve, this superb series of engagements with the past and present is an indispensable guide.” —Michael Berkowitz, University College London “Gilman remains an unparalleled expert at identifying cutting-edge, interdisciplinary research. The essays in this superb volume provide urgently needed comparative and theoretical examinations of the constructed natures of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, and the complex and challenging relationships they engender.” —Lisa Silverman, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Marnia Lazreg examines four arguments given by women who take up veiling, exposes their assumptions, & describes the implications for the future.

Muslim-American women, in all their diversity, are given the chance to tell their stories in their own voice by award-winning journalist Donna Gehrke-White. The only book of its kind, it tells in extraordinarily moving detail the lives of New Traditionalists, who wear the veil though their forebears did not; Blenders, who do not wear the veil but consider themselves spiritual; and Converts - women from other religious backgrounds who have converted to Islam. A rare, revealing look into the hearts, minds and lives of a misunderstood people.