This volume counters the prevailing views and stereotypes of Muslim women - usually projected primarily through male interpretations - by presenting a cross-cultural perspective of their experiences and choices in contemporary Muslim communities. The main theme running through these papers is the manner in which Muslim women consciously, as well as unconsciously, manipulate religious belief to negotiate their gender roles within the situational context of their lives.

Muslim societies - as well as Western perceptions of them - tend to be projected primarily through male perspectives. Our notion of the lives of women in these societies is far hazier and even more coloured by stereotypes than those of Muslim men. This volume intends to counter the prevailing views of Muslim women by presenting a cross-cultural perspective of their experiences and choices in contemporary Muslim communities, based on recent and hitherto unpublished research. The main theme running through these papers is the manner in which Muslim women consciously as well as unconsciously manipulate religious belief to negotiate their gender role within the situational context of their lives.