Customer Reviews

Daughters of Islam: Building Bridges with Muslim Women

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I read this book as an assignment for a missions class in college. I was not expecting to actually enjoy reading the book, however, I was very surprised to find this book an easy read. This book is written in a very informational style and it tells many stories about various obstacles which Islamic women face. It also provides many ways in which Christian women can relate to Islamic women. I would recommend this book for any Christian missionaries who will be working in Islamic areas of the world. I would also recommend this for women who would like to know how to effectively witness to their Islamic neighbors.

I am not sure what book the critics below have been reading, but it is hard to believe it was this one. The most recent reviewer has nothing at all to say about the book. Another complains that Adeney has "cherry-picked" problems in Islamic societies: "I can also list all the ills in the Western society and blame it on Christianity . . . " But Adeney specifically admits that "Muslims are appalled at Western family life," with good reason, and that "millions" of Muslim women enjoy loving families. So who is this critic arguing with? (As for the critic's claim that Christianity had nothing to do with the high status of women in "Christendom," see my Jesus and the Religions of Man for detailed evidence to the contrary.)

A third critic calls Daughters of Islam "misleading and offensive because it "generalizes" Muslim women by telling "a few sad stories and makes it seem that all Muslim women are oppressed, stupid, and in need of God." This is ridiculous. Miriam Adeney has got to be about the last person on earth
to portray Muslim women as "stupid." "Oppressed?" Again, she explicitly denies this is true of "all" Muslim women; but who can honestly deny that it is true of many? A 1988 UN survey of the status of women around the world that made no explicit reference to religion, yet the countries it found had the lowest status for women were mostly Muslim. It is one thing to decry over-generalizations; another to pretend that generalizations have no force at all.

Daughters of Islam is an honest book written by a kind and personable anthropologist. It's primary audience is Christians who want to "reach Muslim women for Christ," as they put it. The book is well-written and engaging, full of lively stories. The author does not begin with ideology, but from the grass-roots, with stories, with people whose lives she describes. Miriam Adeney is the last thing in the world from an ideologue, but she does think Muslim women can profit from meeting Jesus. If that offends you, it may take a special effort to be sure the book you read is actually the one she wrote.

I was introduced to this book by a speaker at a Harvard University class. What struck me was the compassion that the author, who is an anthropologist, has for these women whose stories she tells. These are women who hail from a bevy of countries, continents, and cultures, a veritable feast for the spiritually and culturally interested.

If you're a Christian or Jew or agnostic or missionary or atheist or anthropologist (or whomever) who wants to learn more about women with Muslim backgrounds, or a Muslim who wants to understand more about Muslims in other countries who look for meaning to Jesus, this book is a treasure.

As of posting this, I see a lot of very polarized reviews on this book. There are Christians who want to understand Muslim women in order to share their religion, and there non-Christians who feel that a book directed towards Muslim conversion is disrespectful. I'll try to stay more in the middle here!

I enjoyed reading the stories in this book. There are dozens of life stories from women who have converted from Islam to Christianity in Africa, the USA, and the Arab world. In between these stories are reflections on the challenges of family, money, education, and culture as experienced by some women in the Arab world. Miriam Adeney, a Christian anthropologist, has interviewed these women over seven years by traveling all around the world, and as a trained anthropologist she tries to be sensitive to their perspectives and the context in which they live, while being open about her own views.

Most missional Christians will find this book sensitive and loving towards people that God would like them to invite into their religious community. And yet I understand how this can be upsetting to Muslims, written by an outsider with desires and goals contrary to their own -- a Muslim book about Christians who converted to the wonderful life of Islam would be similarly upsetting to many Christians.

However, I would remind prospective readers that Adeney's audience is Christians who want to form relationships with Muslims, and for them, she writes beautiful stories that humanize Muslims for those of us who live in the West, an environment often quite negative towards Islam. These stories draw us away from stereotypes of terrorists and victims, and lead us into insight on what it means to be a woman making decision about her life, what it means to convert, and the respect and care that any religious person needs if they hope to invite someone from another faith to learn more about their own.

A book very well done!

I really enjoyed this book. The stories are heart-warming... and from my limited knowledge, characteristic of what Muslim ladies face. It treats them with honor and respect. Additionally, the author has decades of experience.

I recommend it.

Suprise suprise Author of this book. Incase you didnt know there is a huge difference between tradition and religion. An arab proverb doesnt make it an Islamic proverb. The indian culture of woman staying at home COOKING all day does not make it Islamic. Being a muslim women, in a western country i can give you an honest view of Islam and women. Infact ive ranted and raved about it before. Just one question, Are nuns oppressed? They proberbly are because of their conservitive dressing, just like us muslims!

Oh no, my mum, sisters, and litterally hundreds of other women I know wear the veil, because THEY WANT TO. They feel liberated, secure and tresured.

Im so tired of repeating myself ( my other reviews) but a muslim women treated in the way that ISLAM teaches you to teach her is anything but oppressed. Blame it on a misunderstanding or whatever you want to.

Why then do we learn that under the feet of a MOTHER lies paradise.

Why then does a hadeeth( saying) of the prophet quote " man came to Allah's Apostle and said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who is more entitled to be
treated with the best companionship by me?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man
said. "Who is next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man further said, "Who is
next?" The Prophet said, "Your mother." The man asked for the fourth time, "Who is
next?" The Prophet said, "Your father."

This is an authentic unfabricated saying of the Prophet Muhammed (may peace be upon him)
And as you know we muslims havnt added or subtraced a single verse from the quraan ever since it was revealed, unlike the bible might i add. The same goes for the Hadeeth.

Why then did yvonne ridely ( the journilist) who after being held hostage by the taliban,the very same so called women abusers, realise that she was treated with such respect, and upon entering the "western" society, see the blatent truth about the treatment of women and the west? Its in her book, read it! Stockholm Syndrome? Neither she nor I thinks so!

This book attempts to generalize Muslim women. It tells a few sad stories and makes it seem that all Muslim women are oppressed, stupid, and in need of God in their lives.
FYI, educated Muslim women already know Jesus and have God in their lives!

By cherry-picking some stories, the author has done a great favor to the western and Christian readers. We need to ask ourselves when we are going to stop dishonest portrayal of Muslim societies. I can also list all the ills in the Western society and blame it on Christianity like rape, teenage pregnancy, high rate of divorce, infidelity, adultery, AIDS and other STDs, promiscuity, birth out of wedlock, domestic abuse etc. The freedom of women in the western world has nothing to with Christianity. The progress and enlightenment in the Western world evolved from anti-religious secular ideas. Democracy, freedom, and liberty all originated from non-Christian thoughts which are certainly not un-Christian or un-Islamic.