Perfecting Women

Maulana Ashraf ʻAli Thanawi's Bihishti Zewar : a Partial Translation with Commentary

Author: Barbara Daly Metcalf
ISBN: 9780520080935

Challenging conventional notions about the place of women in Muslim societies, the Bihishti Zewar (Heavenly Ornaments) gives life to the themes of religious and social reform that have too often been treated in the abstract. This instructional guidebook, used by the world's largest population of Muslims, is a vital source for those interested in modern Indian social and intellectual history, in Islamic reform, and in conceptions of gender and women's roles. The Bihishti Zewar was written in northern India in the early 1900s by a revered Muslim scholar and spiritual guide, Maulana Ashraf 'Ali Thanawi (1864-1943), to instruct Muslim girls and women in religious teachings, proper behavior, and prudent conduct of their everyday lives. In so doing, it sets out the core of a reformist version of Islam that has become increasingly prominent across Muslim societies during the past hundred years. Throughout the work, nothing is more striking than the extent to which the book takes women and me

Publisher: University of California Press
Publish Date: 1992

Subjects: History / General, Religion / Islam / General, Social Science / Women's Studies, Social Science / Gender Studies

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Middle Eastern)