The Politics of Piety

From an interview with the author:

All over the Middle East and other places I’ve heard about from Malaysia, to Indonesia to Pakistan and Bangladesh women and girls are studying Islam in a more formalized manner. They are memorizing Qur’an, and reciting with Tajweed—a set of rules for reciting the Qur’an—, and learning Hadith, or the sayings of the Prophet Mohammed. In many places they are doing this within the mosque, whereas previously they studied at home. They are also learning practical things such as what it means for a young woman to live in contemporary society, trying to keep a religiously devout practice, while at the same time, not turning away from education, employment, working and all sorts of social milieus which require men and women to be together.