In the United States, precious little is known about the active role Muslim women have played for nearly a century in the religious culture of Indonesia, the largest majority-Muslim country in the world. While much of the Muslim world excludes women from the domain of religious authority, the country's two leading Muslim organizations--Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama (NU)--have created enormous networks led by women who interpret sacred texts and exercise powerful religious influence. In Women Shaping Islam, Pieternella van Doorn-Harder explores the work of these contemporary...
In the United States, precious little is known about the active role Muslim women have played for nearly a century in the religious culture of Indones...
Contemporary Coptic Nuns reveals a world rarely seen by outsiders - the world of the nuns who worship and serve as part of the largest community of indigenous Christians in the Middle East. One of the few people unaffiliated with the Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church to observe these women, Pieternella van Doorn-Harder tells about the nuns who eschew secular pursuits to devote their lives to this extraordinarily conservative faith. Through the actions of leading Coptic women, van Doorn-Harder portrays their rich traditions and beliefs, and she examines the forces that compel these women to...
Contemporary Coptic Nuns reveals a world rarely seen by outsiders - the world of the nuns who worship and serve as part of the largest community of in...