Gender and Sexuality in Ancient Islam Anonymous College

When you picture Islamic women, the image that immediately comes to mind is a woman cloaked in black, with not one part of her body visible. Even more so, it is hard to imagine this specter as possessing any sort of sexuality. Yet, in Tariq Ali’s novel, The Book of Saladin this is exactly how the ancient Islamic world used to be. Women were significantly freer and commanded great respect. Sex was openly talked about, and homosexuality was widely acknowledged. In the book, the two characters of Halima and Jamila show the power of women during the golden age of Islam. They represent the strengths that women can possess, ranging from philosophy to independence to musical skills. Compared to modern Muslim women, it seems that they are the ones who should be living in modern times. In The Book of Saladin Tariq Ali displays the strength of women in society, while also noting how free of sexual mores the Muslim people were compared to Europeans of the time.

When you think of the modern feminist, women who are in powerful positions most likely come to mind. Chances are they are educated, or are greatly skilled at something, maybe even in politics. In America feminism has come a long way, there are even women who are running for...