Nine Parts of Desire

by Geraldine Brooks

  Halal: Religiously lawful, fit, permitted.

  Hanafi: One cf the main schools of Sunni religious thought.

  Hanbali: The strictest of the four main schools of Islamic thought.

  Haram: Religiously forbidden. It is necessary to abstain from that which is haram. If one performs a haram act, one will be punished by the Islamic court, or in the hereafter, or both.

  Harem: The private quarters of a house, or the women’s rooms. Also the women of a family.

  Hezbollah: Literally, the Party of God. The political/religious group associated with Khomeini. Influential among Lebanese Shiites.

  Hijab: Literally, a curtain. Generally, any women’s dress that follows Islamic principles.

  Hijrah: The flight of Muhammad and his followers from Mecca to Medina on July 16, in the year 622 of the Christian calendar. The date from which the Muslim calendar begins.

  Husseiniya: A Shiite center for study and prayer.

  Imam: Leader of community prayers. Also, among Shiites, the first twelve leaders of their community were given the title. Many Iranians revived the title for Khomeini.

  Jalabiyya: A button-through, neck-to-ankle coat worn by women, or a loose-fitting robe worn by men.

  jihad: Holy effort, or struggle, or war to defend Islam. The closest English equivalent is crusade.

  Kaffiyah: A checked headdress, black-and-white or red-and-white, widely worn by men in parts of the Arab world but particularly associated with Palestinians, for whom it has become something of a nationalist symbol.

  Kunya: The practice of naming a man or woman after a first-born son. A woman known as Umm Walid (mother of Walid) has an eldest son named Walid.

  Kurd: A non-Arabic, mostly Muslim people who inhabit the mountainous region between Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey and the former Soviet Union.

  Maalimah: In Egypt, a woman skilled in folk music and dance who passes her knowledge to others.

  Madrassa: School.

  Magneh: A cowl-like head covering worn, mostly in Iran, by women.

  Majlis: Gathering or council. Majlis-as-shura is a consultative council, the closest concept to parliament in Islamic teachings.

  Makruh: Religiously discouraged, disliked. If one does a makruh act, one won’t be punished as for a haram act; but if one refrains from it, one will be rewarded.

  Maliki: One of the major schools of Islamic thought.

  Meuzzin: One who sings or chants the call to prayer.

  Minaret: The spire of a mosque from which the meuzzin traditionally calls the faithful to prayer. In modern times, loudspeakers often broadcast recordings instead.

  Minbar: The pulpit in a mosque.

  Mosque: In Arabic, masjid. A place of Muslim worship. It may be a simple room or a magnificent marble edifice.

  Mujtahid: A religious scholar who is an authority on Islamic law and may advise others.

  Mullah: A clergyman or religious leader.

  Muslim: Literally, one who submits to God’s will and laws.

  Mutawain: Saudi Arabia’s religious police.

  Muwazzaf: A government bureaucrat.

  Niqab: A veil worn by women that completely covers the face.

  Roosarie: An Iranian name for a head scarf.

  Salwar Kameez: A calf-length tunic worn over pants.

  Sharia: Islamic law. Literally, the road to the water hole.

  Shayla: An Arabic word for head scarf.

  Shehada: The first pillar of the Islamic religion. Literally, profession of faith: “I testify there is no God but God and Muhammad is the messenger of God.”

  Shiite: Adherent to the Islamic faction that arose in the seventh century in a split over who should be caliph, or successor, to Muhammad. The Shiat, or partisans, of Ali ibn Abu Taleb, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, believed that Ali was the legitimate successor and that the leadership should stay with Muhammad’s descendants. The number of Shiites worldwide is estimated at around ninety million, or some 9 percent of all Muslims. They are the overwhelming majority in Iran and a slight majority in Iraq, Dubai and Bahrain. Elsewhere, such as Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, they have traditionally been a disadvantaged minority.

  Sigheh: A temporary marriage recognized by Shiites.

  Sunnah: The traditions of the Prophet Muhammad. Those things he did himself, or approved of by him, or that were done in his presence without earning his disapproval.

  Sunnat: Recommended, desirable, in keeping with Muhammad’s traditions. One will not be punished for neglecting to do sunnat acts, but will be rewarded for doing them.

  Sunni: An orthodox Muslim. Literally, one who follows Muhammad’s tradition.

  Talaq: Divorce by repudiation. The husband merely repeats the words “I divorce you” three times.

  Thobe: The long robe, usually made of white cotton, worn by the men of the Arabian peninsula.

  Ulema: A body of religious scholars who interpret Islamic law for the community.

  Umm: Mother.

  Ummah: The worldwide Islamic community.

  Wahabi: Puritanical, ultraconservative movement founded in the 1740s in what is now Saudi Arabia by a preacher named Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab. Women under Wahabism are denied many rights considered due to them according to more orthodox readings of the Koran and hadith. Backed by Saudi oil wealth, Wahabi teachings are increasingly influential throughout the Islamic world.

  Wajib: A religiously obligatory act. One will be punished in the afterlife for neglecting a wajib act such as daily prayer or annual alms-giving.

  Zakkat: Compulsory giving of charity to the poor. One of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, all Muslims are required to give a percentage of their wealth each year, usually calculated on net worth rather than annual income.

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  FIRST ANCHOR BOOKS TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION, JANUARY 1996

  Copyright © 1995 by Geraldine Brooks

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Anchor Books in 1994.

  Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

  Excerpt on pages 71–72 reprinted from Middle Eastern Muslim Women Speak edited by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea and Basima Gattan Bezirgan. Copyright © 1977. By permission of the University of Texas Press.

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the Anchor Books hardcover edition as follows:

  Brooks, Geraldine.

  Nine parts of desire : the hidden world of Islamic women / Geraldine

  Brooks.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  1. Muslim women. 2. Muslim women—Social conditions. I. Title.

  HQ1170.B76 1995

  305.48’6971—dc20 94-17496 CIP

  eISBN: 978-0-307-43445-6

  www.anchorbooks.com

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