Six candid interviews introduce readers to a class of Muslim women rarely acknowledged in the West. The book aims to shed light on the status, conflicts and social realities of educated Muslim women in Pakistan. They tell of the conflicts and compromises with family and community, while facing violence, archaic marriage rules and locally entrenched codes of conduct. They speak of human dignity and gender equality, economic deprivation and social justice, and of feminism and fundamentalism.

Six candid interviews introduce readers to a class of Muslim women rarely acknowledged in the West. The book aims to shed light on the status, conflicts and social realities of educated Muslim women in Pakistan. They tell of the conflicts and compromises with family and community, while facing violence, archaic marriage rules and locally entrenched codes of conduct. They speak of human dignity and gender equality, economic deprivation and social justice, and of feminism and fundamentalism.

Explores the lives and legacies of several Muslim women rulers from different cultures and historical periods who were at the forefront of the political scene, contesting patriarchal rules of dynastic succession and electoral competition to become sovereign leaders in medieval Yemen and India, and modern Pakistan and Indonesia.