Women in the Middle East This page intentionally left blank Women in the Middle East PAST AND PRESENT Nikki R. Keddie P R I N C E T O N U N I V E R S I T Y PRESS P R I N C E T O N AND O X F O R D Copyright © 2007 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 3 Market Place, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 0X20 1SY All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Keddie, Nikki R. Women in the Middle East: past and present / Nikki R. Keddie. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-691-11610-5 (clothbound : alk. paper) ISBN-10: 0-691-11610-5 (clothbound : alk. paper) ISBN-13 978-0-691-12863-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN-10 0-691-12863-4 (pbk.) 1. Women—Middle East—History. 2. Feminism—Middle East—History. I. Title. HQ1726.5.K43 2007 305.40956—dc22------2006008911 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon Printed on acid-free paper. pup.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 FOR PARVIN PAIDAR 1 949-2005 who illuminated our minds and our lives all too briefly This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations xi Preface xiii Introduction 1 Book One Women in the Middle East: A History 7 Introduction: Issues in Studying Middle Eastern Women’s History 9 I. Regional Background and the Beginnings of Islam 13 II. From the Pious Caliphs through the Dynastic Caliphates 26 III. From the Turkish and Mongol Invasions to 1798 48 IV. Change in the Long Nineteenth Century 1798-1914 60 V. 1914-45: Nationalism and Women’s Movements 75 VI. 1945-Today: New States and Trends, Women’s Activism, and the Rise of Islamism 102 Conclusion 166 Notes to Book One 171 Bibliography of Books 193 Book Two Approaches to the Study of Middle Eastern Women 201 Part 1. Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender 203 Part 2. Scholarship, Relativism, and Universalism 225 Part 3. Women in the Limelight: Recent Books on Middle Eastern Women’s History since 1800 251 Part 4. Problems in the Study of Middle Eastern Women 279 Part 5. Sexuality and Shi'i Social Protest in Iran (coauthored with Parvin Paidar [Nahid Yeganeh]) 297 viii * Contents Book Three Autobiographical Recollections 325 Part 1. Autobiographical Interview 327 Part 2. Supplement to the Interview 347 Bibliography of Works by Nikki R. Keddie since 1995 355 Index 357 Contents of Book One W om en in the M iddle East: A H istory Introduction: Issues in Studying Middle Eastern Women’s History 9 I. Regional Background and the Beginnings of Islam 13 Historical Middle Eastern Societies and Gender Relations 13 Pre-Islamic Arabia and the Rise of Islam 18 II. From the Pious Caliphs through the Dynastic Caliphates 26 The Age of Pious Caliphs and Major Conquests 26 Women in Medieval Muslim Society 29 Islamic Law (Sbari'a) and Traditions (Hadiths) 31 Marriage, Divorce, Child Custody 35 Women’s Lives and Codes of Honor over the Centuries 38 Class and Slavery 41 The Lives of Medieval Women as Recorded in the 44 Cairo Geniza III. From the Turkish and Mongol Invasions to 1798 48 Turks, Mongols, and Mamluks: New Rulers and Gender 48 Attitudes Ottomans and Safavids 53 Western Views of Middle Eastern Muslim Women 57 IV. Change in the Long Nineteenth Century 1798-1914 60 An Overview of Change 60 Modernizing Reforms and Colonial Rule 67 Debating Middle Eastern Women’s Status and Roles 68 V. 1914-45: Nationalism and Women’s Movements 75 An Overview of Changes 75 Turkey 81 Iran 84 Afghanistan 89 Egypt 89 Syria and Lebanon 95 Palestine 99