Author Description

"This challenging book of essays outlines the great complexity, variety and difference of male identities in Islamic societies. From the Taliban orphanages of Afghanistan to the cafés of Morocco; from the experience of couples at infertility clinics in Egypt to that of Iraqi conscripts, these essays illustrate how the masculine gender is constructed and negotiated in the Islamic Ummah. The collection goes far beyond the traditional notion that Islamic masculinities are inseparable from the control of women. The essays outline an experience of the relation between spirituality and masculinity quite different from the prevailing Western norms. Drawing on sources ranging from modern Arabic literature to discussions of Muhammad's virility and Abraham's paternity, Islamic Masculinities portrays ways of being in the world that intertwine with non-Western conceptions of duty to the family, the state and the divine. This innovative and illuminating book will be of major interest to students of culture, gender and sociology, and will provide new insights even to specialists in the Middle East and Islamic Studies."--Provided by publisher.