Customer Reviews

Women in the Ottoman Empire: Middle Eastern Women in the Early Modern Era (Ottoman Empire and Its Heritage, Vol 10)

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The scarcity of information on early modern Ottoman/Islamic women makes this book a real treasure, and the glossary of Arabic/Turkish terms is especially helpful. For the amount of information between the covers, it's definitely worth the price! For Westerners who seek a better understanding of Islam, the history of Muslim women is crucial. Women of that period were married between 12 and 17 (compared to 24-26 years of age for Western women in the early modern period). The Ottoman woman's marginalization and subjugation is not far from the Western woman's--yet it is based not on physical weakness, but on fear of the woman's "fitna"--her potential to tempt men and be a threat to social order! Were all Islamic women locked up in harems? Certainly not, and the book explains other aspects of a woman's life, such as the power of instant repudiation (divorce) which the husband possessed, the "nuqsan" (deficiency)of a woman's nature, and the religious, political and social restrictions women were under. Do not confuse Ottoman/Islamic practices of that period with the mandates of the Prophet, however. Taken in the context of the period, the many essays offer a fascinating glimpse into the real world of an Ottoman woman.