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Rifa'a Al-Tahtawi

In the 1820s, Rifa`a Rafi` al-Tahtawi, a young Muslim cleric, was a leading member of the first Egyptian educational mission to Paris, where he remained for five years, documenting his observations of European culture. His account, Takhlis al-Ibriz fi Talkhis Bariz, is one of the earliest and most influential records of the Muslim encounter with Enlightenment-era European thought, introducing ideas of modernity to his native land. In addition to its historical and literary value, al-Tahtawi's work offers invaluable insight into early conceptions of Europe and the `Other'. Its observations are as vibrant and palpable today as they were over 150 years ago; informative and often acute, to humorous effect. An irrefutable classic, this new edition of the first English translation is of seminal value. It is introduced and carefully annotated by a scholar fluent in the life, times and milieu of its narrator.

Saqi Books

Saqi Essentials S.

An Imam in Paris: Account of a Stay in France by an Egyptian Cleric (1826-1831)

Daniel L. Newman

Fatema Mernissi

Does Islam as a religion oppress women? Is Islam against democracy? In this classic study, internationally renowned sociologist Fatema Mernissi argues that women's oppression is not due to Islam because this religion celebrates women's power. Women's oppression, she maintains, is due to political manipulation of religion by power-seeking, archaic Muslim male elites. Mernissi explains that early Muslim scholars portrayed women as aggressive hunters who forced men, reduced to weak hunted victims, to control women by imposing institutions such as veiling, which confined women to the private space. In her new introduction, she argues that women's aggressive invasion of the 500-plus Arab satellite channels in the twenty-first century, including as commanding show anchors, film and video stars, supports her theory that Islam as a religion celebrates female power.

Beyond the Veil: Male-female Dynamics in Muslim Society

Mohammad Arkoun

At a time when Islam is the focus of attention, vilified by some and a source of inspiration for others, Arkoun's is one of few voices that seek to go against the stream. His radical review of mainstream historiography of Islam draws on interdisciplinary analysis - historical, social, psychological and anthropological. As one of the foremost thinkers of the Muslim world, Arkoun is in a position to question dogmatic constructs from within, with respect and critical acumen. An understanding of this approach will lead to an emancipatory turn in the intellectual and political spheres of Muslim societies.

Islam: To Reform or to Subvert?

Abdelwahab Bouhdiba

In this classic work, Abdelwahab Bouhdiba asserts that Islam is a lyrical view of life in which sexuality enjoys a privileged status. Drawing on both Arabic and Western sources and seeking to integrate the religious and the sexual, Bouhdiba describes the place of sexuality in the traditional Islamic view of the world and examines whether a harmony of sexuality and religious faith is achieved in practice. Beginning with the Quran, Bouhdiba confronts the question of male supremacy in Islam and the strict separation of the masculine and the feminine. He considers purification practices; Islamic attitudes towards homosexuality, concubinage and legal marriage; and sexual taboos laid down by the Quran. Bouhdiba assesses contemporary sexual practice, including eroticism, misogyny and mysticism, and concludes that the ideal Islamic model of sexuality has been debased.

Sexuality in Islam

Saqi Essentials S. - The book series

Saqi Essentials S. - The book series

Saqi Essentials S. books in order

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