Customer Reviews

Voices Behind the Veil: The World of Islam Through the Eyes of Women

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4 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(9)

 

 

I had to read this book twice to grasp all the information that it offered on the Islamic religion. The author is a former Muslim so he knows the subject well. His information is timely and very relevant to our world today which teaches many errors about Islam.

This book was easy to read and very informative. Particularly useful for women who are in a position to reach out to Muslim women and assist them find relief from the tragic ordeal they face under the oppresion of Islam. Muslim culture clearly prohibit any non muslim man from approaching muslim women , so it befalls on non-muslim women to make the approach. Very good book and highly recommended for those who would like to help out those unfortunate veiled muslim women find their way to freedom.

It is interesting to read reviews that have aparrently not read the text but race to measure its merit. I wonder, has the above Canadian educator taken just one step into the middle east?
I have found this work to be compassionate and full of Christian love for Muslim women. If you wish to understand the plight of Muslim women and thier lack of human rights do a study for yourself and start with this text. It is unashamed of its Christian worldview but accurate and, especially in the case of chapter 2 by Ms. Naser, quite poignant. Read it and judge for yourself.

The true problem is that the religion and experiences described in this book are so offensive to some that they attack the author and ignore the truth that the book exposes. I have studied the Quran and teaching since Sept 11th 2001 and find Dr. Caner view to be correct. The interesting lame attack by a man that has most likely even met Dr. Caner tells you more about this book and its validity than anything I can say. In the nature of true disclosure let me state I have met and listen to many sermons from Dr. Caner and find him to be the the light of the earth. I also noticed that the negative reviews of this book were name calling unsubstantiated mumblings of those with nothing informative to say..

Dr. Caner has set out on a noble cause to present a view of the Islamic world through the eyes of women, but he fails at effectively reporting on this. Specifically, the case studies used are rather vague and not only that, but built largely on assumptions. The actual narratives from the women are ignored in the analysis, where superflous information is added in order to give the womens testimonies whatever bent Caner intended.

This book was a complete disappointment. Far from providing insight into the lives of Muslim women, it is nothing but Christian propoganda masquerading as information.

Among many other problems, this book consistantly confuses cultural tradition for religious practice. It does not provide a balancing viewpoint of contempory women in Islam, and cites way too much outdated material.

The author, Ergun Mehmet Caner, also seems convieniently oblivious to 19 centuries of similar legal and social repression against women in Christendom, much of which has only been reversed in the last generation or two. This is especially egregious since it treats the position of Muslim women as if isolated in history, and assumes that "liberation" will only come with conversion to Christ, not natural social progress.

Another sticking point is its continual division between Allah (Arabic for the one, eternal God of Moses, the Torah AND Jesus) and the [supposedly different?] God of Christianity. These are the same, as anyone following Islam can tell you. Additionally, it totally misses the huge difference between the aims and repressions of Islamic fundamentalists and the reality of contemporary, mainstream Islam.

DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY. If you are looking for real information about the place of women throughout the Islamic world, may I suggest you try: ANY of the "Culture Shock..." books for the region (Iran, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia); Nine Parts of Desire (Geraldine Brooks); Price of Honor(Jan Brooks); Honeymoon in Purdah; Modern Iran (Nikki E. Keddi); et,al.

One final caveat: Treatment of Islamic women varies from country to country, from one generation and socio-economic level to another, from rural to urban, from traditional to progressive. One book is never going to cover it all, or at least that book has yet to be written in the West.

I am so sorry that this book had to end up presenting Christianity as the answer. Its biased content in opposition of Islam is blatant, and I am afraid that the few people who read it without reading or studying anything else end up writing reviews (such as those here that are quite embarrassing in their snobby, ignorant hatred) or just spouting their opinions wherever they happen to converse with another. It's negative talk like this, which is false on more counts than not, that will pull us all apart.

Islam does not promote the mysogeny many of you reviewers you describe. Poor interpretation of it does (unfortunately the same poor interpretation happens in many Christian churches and organizations, also). Original Islam has been noted throughout history as supportive of female progress through education and equal treatment. You can find many books and articles on this right here on Amazon.com. There are many muslim countries in which women do not have to wear a veil, and there are many muslim men who wouldn't think of having more than one wife, let alone more than one girlfriend (my loving and devoted boyfriend -- and husband -- being one of them).

Before you believe that you have a good knowledge of the experience of the Muslim woman after reading just this book, please, please read more. Just look at the many titles here on this site. Read from various orientations-- left and right wing, religious, etc.. Then you can form an educated opinion. Don't just parrot the one thing that you've read, please! It promotes prejudice and even hatred.

This book was written with the specific & stated intent of teaching Christians how to best approach Muslim women with the express purpose of drawing them away from their own religion and converting them to Christianity. It supports many of the Western stereotypes of the most extreme Islamicist sects (similar to a Muslim presenting the most extreme Christian sects as "normal") and does not acknowledge the many positive practises, beliefs and cultural practises common to the large majority of Islam. The "women's voices" are a few Christian missionaries living in Islamic cultures, with the odd example given of a Muslim women who has denounced her faith & become Christian. The book does present various verses from the Koran & the Hadiths, but these are very selective and give a biased view of this religion. The book is, in my opinion, mostly Christian religious propaganda.

If you are looking for a truthful book about Muslim women's lifestyle, as I was, do not buy this book. This is a totally biased Christian view of the Islamic culture by those who want to convert Muslim women to Christianity. Big disappointment for me.

Not a Muslim, I have traveled extensively in Muslim countries and have seen how restricted women are compared to men. But this missionary approach comparing quotes from the Bible and Quran, is a good example of narrow minded diatribe from missionaries who don't see that their brand of fundamentalism is as destructive as that of Muslims they criticize.

The case stories are really interesting, but none of the Christian women telling the stories in this anthology knows enough about their own faith to make the book really captivating. It is not enough to say things like "Jesus loves me and He wants to love you too!" This does not work in the real world, and is probably also why Moslems in general have a hard time taking the popularized and Westernized version of Christianity seriously. To argue against Islam from an emotionalistic point of view and to do the "Jesus loves you" chant is to portray Christianity in a distorted way. And it is not convincing to portray God as a spiritual huggie-bear. On the contrary, Christianity is reality, it is the Truth - a Person. We need comparative publications done by people who not only care for mission - which is something this book does emphasise - but who also know Christian Theology, and is able to investigate the issues of Islam a little deeper than this book does.