Includes bibliographies and index.

Introduction: the ideal and contextual realities of Muslim women / Freda Hussain -- The status of women in early Islam / Barbara Freyer Stowasser -- The Islamic revolution and women / Freda Hussain and Kamelia Radwan -- Roles in transition / Debbie J. Gerner -- The literary treatment of women in North Africa / Anne-Marie Nisbet -- Early feminist movements in Turkey and Egypt / Leila Ahmed -- A traditional ceremony in an Islamic milieu in Malaysia / Heather Strange -- Islam and the legal status of women in Tunisia / Norma Salem -- Female education in Egypt / Hind A. Khattab and Syeda Greiss el-Daeiff -- The struggle of women in the national development in Pakistan / Freda Hussain -- Lessons from fieldwork in the Sudan / Carolyn Fleuhr-Lobban.