The circumscribed role of women in orthodox religious societies has long intrigued scholars and general readers alike. How these roles evolved and how women today reconcile feminism with traditional religious practice is a subject of controversy both within the academy and in religious communities. Getting God's Ear considers this subject by examining the role of religious worship and spiritual affairs in women's lives in the twentieth-century Arab world.

The meaning of women's exclusion from the "sacred precincts" of the mosque and their limited access to religious learning--as...