BOOK REVIEW

Quoting many Quranic verses (like 2: 228; 3: 195; 4: 7, 19, 124; 9: 71; 16: 97; 30: 21; 40: 40) as well as sayings of the Prophet Muhammad related to women, Khan, in chapter 1, “Quran and Hadith”, affirms that both foundational sources of Islam ‘give detailed commandments regarding women, and also lay down clear guidelines for the relationship between men and women’ and they also ‘highlight the most important aspects of feminine virtues and the standing which a woman should have vis-à-vis her husband and father’ (p. 15). In the second chapter, “The qualities of a believing woman”, he refers to the ‘basic attributes of men and women’ as depicted in Quran 33: 35. These are Islam, Iman (faith), Qunut (sincere obedience to God), Sidq (truthfulness), Sabr (patience), Khushu (apprehension, fear), Sadaqah (charity), Sawm (fasting), Ihsan (chastity), Dhikr (remembrance of God), and Tawbah (repentance), Ibadah (worship) and Siyahah (itinerancy), respectively (pp. 21–24). These qualities, taken together ‘constitute an ideal, not just for men, but for both sexes’, and they ‘form the basis of Islam’ as well (p. 25). In this chapter, he further asserts that as “men function on different planes of religiosity, so do women have their own separate spheres of religious effectiveness”; and besides the domestic sphere, it is possible for a “talented woman to further the cause of religion when the right opportunity presents itself” (pp. 25, 26). In this case, he cites the examples of Aishah, wife of the Prophet Muhammad and the daughter of Imam Abu Jafar al-Tahawi, and their contribution to sacred knowledge showing ‘the nature and extent of the contribution which can be made by believing Muslim women to the cause of Islam’ (p. 27). Similarly, in the third chapter, “Womanhood in Islam”, Khan quotes Quran 4: 1, O Mankind, fear your Lord who created you from one soul and created man’s mate from the same soul and demystifies the notion that ‘Eve was created from Adam’s rib’ in its explanation, saying that it is a ‘biblical explanation [Bible, Genesis, 2: 21–23], not a Quranic one’, for there is not a single verse which supports this notion. On the contrary, the fact is that ‘Eve was created—not from Adam himself—but from the same species as Adam,’ as is elucidated in several verses like Quran 16: 72; 30: 21; and 42: 11, wherein the word for ‘Soul (nafs) has been used to mean “species”’ (pp. 28–29). He summarizes this discussion aptly in these words: ‘women and men are from the same species. Biologically speaking, women have not been extracted from the bodies of their male counterparts. God fashioned them according to His Will, just as He fashioned men in accordance with His Almighty Will and Power’ (p. 30). As for sayings of the Prophet such as ‘women have been created from a rib’ and ‘a woman is like a rib, if you try to straighten it, it will