Reviews

“Jennifer Heath has drawn a discerning historical portrait of women in Islam, rich with the teachers, rulers, rebels and seductresses whose legacies of empowerment continue to shape the lives of Muslim women today. What better way to silence the uninformed cries against Islam than to let the bold and sparkling lives of powerful Muslim women speak for themselves.”
—Daisy Khan, Executive Director, ASMA Society (American Sufi Muslim Association

“A wide survey across the ages that takes the reader, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, into mind-expanding territory. If you thought you knew what being a Muslim woman was all about, read again!”
—Michael Wolfe, author of Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith

“Jennifer Heath writes of the women of Islam with great love, wisdom, and perceptive insight. In a time when the embracing of the Divine Feminine may be crucial to world survival, Heath dispels myths and misconceptions and truly elucidates the role of individual women and the feminine principles in the spiritual traditions of Islam.”
—Debra Denker, author of Sisters on the Bridge of Fire: One Woman’s Journey in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

“Jennifer Heath smashes the stereotype that Muslim women only exist as second class citizens. The Scimitar and the Veil tells the amazing stories of just some of the extraordinary women who shaped Islamic history, beginning with the women who deeply influenced the life of Muhammad and profoundly impacted the early development of the religion. If you want to better understand the lives of Muslim women in all their incredible complexity and diversity, read this book.”
—Alex Kronemer, producer of the PBS documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet

Refreshing and lucid, this is an “aha!” book that will expand the way you walk the difficult terrain of women and Islam. Starting with the formative roles of women in the life of the Prophet Muhammad himself, the author presents carefully researched accounts of 50 historical women—queens, warriors, poets and more—over 13 centuries, embellished for feeling and story but true to facts. All show abundantly how “the veil is not a burial shroud. Behind it there has always been dynamic life.” Heath grew up in Afghanistan in a diplomatic family, and though Islam is not her religion, Islamic society was the crucible of her character. She learned firsthand that Islam is “monotheistic, but it is not a monoculture.” Now a journalist, she laments her lack of scholarly credentials, but her popular style gives this excellent, timely book staying power in the arena of cultural dialogue. 
--Saudi Aramco World, April 2005

“Jennifer Heath has drawn a discerning historical portrait of women in Islam, rich with the teachers, rulers, rebels and seductresses whose legacies of empowerment continue to shape the lives of Muslim women today. What better way to silence the uninformed cries against Islam than to let the bold and sparkling lives of powerful Muslim women speak for themselves.” —Daisy Khan, Executive Director, ASMA Society (American Sufi Muslim Association)

“Gathering and retelling dozens of stories, Heath offers a welcome look at the images and contributions of scores of remarkable women as generations of Muslims have known them. She surveys the women's narratives using a broad typology that embraces virtually every conceivable social and religious status and role. Readers will be amazed and fascinated at the rich variety of characters and personalities available here in Heath's expansive and engaging presentation.”
—Prof. John Renard, St. Louis University, author of Seven Doors to Islam

“A wide survey across the ages that takes the reader, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, into mind-expanding territory. If you thought you knew what being a Muslim woman was all about, read again!”—Michael Wolfe, author of Taking Back Islam: American Muslims Reclaim Their Faith
“Jennifer Heath writes of the women of Islam with great love, wisdom, and perceptive insight. In a time when the embracing of the Divine Feminine may be crucial to world survival, Heath dispels myths and misconceptions and truly elucidates the role of individual women and the feminine principles in the spiritual traditions of Islam.”
—Debra Denker, author of Sisters on the Bridge of Fire: One Woman’s Journey in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan

“Jennifer Heath smashes the stereotype that Muslim women only exist as second class citizens. The Scimitar and the Veil tells the amazing stories of just some of the extraordinary women who shaped Islamic history, beginning with the women who deeply influenced the life of Muhammad and profoundly impacted the early development of the religion. If you want to better understand the lives of Muslim women in all their incredible complexity and diversity, read this book.”—Alex Kronemer, producer of the PBS documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet

“[A] rousing and wide-ranging volume,….The many women covered in this volume reveal Islamic paths of devotion, service, creativity, nurturing, mysticism, and wisdom. Hats off to Heath for this ambitious and much-needed work.” – Spirituality and Health

“urgently needed work against the one-dimensional portrayals of Muslim women in the media and popular discussion. …giving voice to the voiceless.” – Atlanta Journal Constitution

“This book is what has been missing from scholarship on Islam. Providing “an ‘Islam 101’ that fills in the blanks, Jennifer Heath tackles the debate on women and Islam and dismantles stereotypical assumptions as she presents the diverse group of women who have influenced Islam since its inception. Heath offers a much-overlooked perspective on Islam and draws many insightful parallels between women of Islam and Western women of other religions."
 – Sara Hahn, Al Jadid: A Bulletin and Record of Arab Culture and Arts

“The Scimitar and the Veil often sparkles…Heath presents lively, independent women who have made long-lasting contributions to Islamic culture on all levels of society. In doing so, she exposes a rather hidden and secretive female culture, one that Western readers haven't been that familiar with. As such, the book brings us closer to understanding the Middle East.”
– Rocky Mountain News

“Heath's knowledge of her subject is impressive, and her wealth of examples certainly shows that Muslim women throughout history have been more courageous and resourceful than Westerners give them credit for. More importantly, the profiles of individual women are engaging. A rewarding read. If you are interested in Islamic history or women's history — or if you simply like reading about people whose lives differ dramatically from your own — then you will find much to enjoy in this rich, informative book.”
– Daily Camera

“The Scimitar And The Veil: Extraordinary Women Of Islam by author and journalist Jennifer Heath introduces American readers to women who are historically significant in the development of Islam as one of the great world religions. Beginning with his widowed mother, a female slave who tended him in childhood, and the Bedouin woman who fostered him; to his marriage to Khadija (a wealthy businesswoman from Mecca), to his four daughters, and Umm Salamah (one of his later wives upon whom he relied for military and political advice), to Aisha, another of his wives in whose presence he experienced revelations, women played import-ant, influential roles in the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The Scimitar And The Veil is a popular history and survey of fifty Muslim women and their contributions ranging from the very birth of Islam in the 7th Century CE to the 19th Century CE. These women numbered queens, poets, musicians, storytellers, mystics, and saints among their ranks. No personal study of Islam or academic library Islamic Studies collection can be considered either complete or comprehensive without the prominent inclusion of Jennifer Heath's The Scimitar And The Veil. THE SCIMITAR AND THE VEIL portrays more than thirty extraordinary Muslim women from the birth of Islam through the 19th century. From scholars and educators to warriors to musicians and poets to businesswomen and philanthropists to concubines and queens, The Scimitar and the Veil gathers scholarship about the women of Islam – in the context of the faith and Muslim cultural diversity -- into one fascinating and profoundly informative book.”
 –Midwest Book Review

Based on sources ranging from Swahili lore to Persian pageant plays to Muslim feminist writings to the explorations by Western scholars of Islam, THE SCIMITAR AND THE VEIL is written in a poetic, sometimes humorous, energetic and contemporary style and is the first popular history and overview of Muslim women and their great accomplishments.  Among them are Muhammad’s widowed mother, his foster mother, his first wife Khadija – the first person to convert to Islam –his cherished daughters, the Sufi mystic Rabi’a, the Yemeni rulers Asma and Arwa, the powerful Abbasid queen Khayzuran, the Turkish poet Mihri Khatun and many more.  While there are other books about women in Islam, THE SCIMITAR AND THE VEIL is the most comprehensive.