Islam and the subordination of women: comments on a recent Soviet monograph

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Periodical article

Title:	Islam and the subordination of women: comments on a recent Soviet monograph
Author:	Nasr, Zacharia
Year:	1979
Periodical:	L'Égypte contemporaine
Volume:	70
Issue:	378
Pages:	315-339
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Islamic countries
Subjects:	Islam women
Abstract:	The author discusses the book 'Arabskaya Zenshina i Sovremennost - Evolutsia Islama i Zenskii Vopross' ('The evolution of Islam and the problem of women'), written by Luisa Ismailovna Chaidullina (Moscow, Science Publications, 1978). According to the author of the book her objective is: 'the study of the evolution of Islamic institutions concerning the status of women from the birth of Islam to the present time' Dr. Nasr sees as 'target' groups for which the book has been written: I. ordinary laymen in Soviet Russia who have some interest in the history or sociology of Islamic civilization in general, and 2. Moslem citizens of the USSR for whom Islam, as a religion or at least as a culture, is still part of their national life and heritage. The first group would most probably persue the work with little real involvement or insistence on correct information. The problem with the second group, however, is more serious as the author, who in fact launches an intense attack on the precepts of Islam concerning the family and the position allotted to women, directly touches on sensitive issues of national identity and national feelings. Notes.