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This book offers a history of the Islamic discourse on women and gender, locating the current debate within its historical framework. It is comprehensive, ranging from the ancient world to the present day, and considering the relationship of Middle Eastern women to education, culture, imperialism, social change, modernization, and feminism. Addressing central questions including the veiling of women, Leila Ahmed explores the various premises of Islamicist positions on women, including how the core Islamic heritage formulated issues of gender, how it altered in terms of the concepts and societies that Islam captured, and how Islamic discourse was affected by exposure to Western societies.