From the Publisher
“This unique study of the personal narratives of women active in Islamic charity organizations in Cairo allows us to glimpse the surprisingly complicated and contemporary meanings for them of ‘Islam as a way of living.’”-Lila Abu-Lughod,author of Writing Women's Worlds: Bedouin Stories
“A lucid account of the personal, community, and national forces that shape Egyptian Muslim women who engage in social activism as part of their commitment to religious ideals. This book seeks to go beyond the usual dichotomies that pit the secular and modern against the religious and traditional.”
-Marnia Lazreg,author of Questioning the Veil: Open Letters to Muslim Women
“Emphasizing narratives that explore modern selfhood and identity politics among Islamic activist women, Hafez examines the many contexts that transcend an opposition between religion and secularism. This timely, excellent book formulates new methodological and theoretical approaches relevant to anthropology, religious studies, gender studies, and Middle East studies.”
-Susan Slyomovics,co-editor of Women and Power in the Middle East
“Exquisitely captures the multi-faceted desires that draw Egyptian women into Islamic beliefs and practices. Compelling insights, challenging to key standing theories. Powerfully and convincingly argued.”
-Suad Joseph,editor of Encyclopedia of Women and Islamic Cultures
"An informative, critical engagement of the interplay of feminism and religion in a postcolonial society."-A. Madhi,Choice