Introduction / Herbert L. Bodman -- Part 1: Africa. Gender and religion in Hausaland: variations in Islamic practice in Niger and Nigeria / Barbara M. Cooper ; When modernity confronts traditional practices: female genital cutting in Northeast Africa / Noor J. Kassamali ; Cultural diversity within Islam: veils and laws in Tunisia / M.M. Charrad -- Part 2: The Middle East. Power, ideology, and women's consciousness in postrevolutionary Iran / Hisae Nakanishi ; Persisting contradictions: Muslim women in Syria / Bouthaina Shaaban ; From two states to one: women's lives in the transformation of Yemen / Linda Boxberger --Part 3: Central Asia. "Guardians of the nation": women, Islam, and the Soviet legacy of modernization in Azerbaijan / Nayereh Tohidi ; Between Lenin and Allah: women and ideology in Tajikistan / Shahrbanou Tadjbakhsh ; Kazak women: living the heritage of a unique past / Paula A. Michaels -- Part 4: South ans Southeast Asia. Taslima Nasreen and others: the contest over gender in Bangladesh / Dina M. Siddiqi ; Urban Minangkabau Muslim women: modern choices, traditional concerns in Indonesia / Lucy A. Whalley ; Muslim women in India: a minority within a minority / Shahida Lateef -- Part 5: Conclusion. The issues at hand / Nayereh Tohidi.