cover image No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women

No Shame for the Sun: Lives of Professional Pakistani Women

Shahla Haeri. Syracuse University Press, $24.95 (368pp) ISBN 978-0-8156-2979-5

""The women portrayed in... feminist literature on Muslim societies seem to lead lives very distant from the authors who write about them,"" comments Boston University professor Haeri. In this unusual, groundbreaking work, Haeri's subjects are not the customary ""veiled women, peasant women, tribal women, urban poor women,"" but six middle- and upper middle-class educated professional Pakistani women, with whom she has much in common. Each individual oral history is supplemented by Haeri's lucid commentary, adding depth and clarity to what outsiders may view as complex class and ethnicity ties. In each case, Haeri examines the roles of identity, violence, legitimacy, marriage, kinship and religion in the women's lives. Although many of them have experienced trauma, they have secured autonomous lives of professional achievement, often in arranged marriages. They hold doctorates, manage estates, write poetry and establish schools; among them are a Sufi feminist thinker and a political activist. Haeri, an American Muslim born in Iran, brings unique qualities to this study, she is knowledgeable about Islam but admittedly still learning about Pakistan. As she observes, ""What has been seen in the Muslim world is, paradoxically, not the visible, unveiled professional woman but the veiled Muslim woman, the sight of whom does not... add much to one's knowledge of women in the Muslim world."" With rich detail, Haeri brings six women vibrantly into view and provides readers with a much-needed lens adjustment. (Nov.) Forecast: Scholars of women's studies and Islam will find value in this study, as will readers with a serious interest in current events.