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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Contemporary Topics of Islamic Thought Appreciation Of The Tao Of Islam The Tao of Islam: A Sourcebook on Gender Relationships in Islamic Thought by Sachiko Murata[^1] is a true masterpiece, not only of translation and exposition, but of Islamic propagation, as well. The work as a whole provides the best rejoinder yet given to the attack made on Islam from various feminist quarters both in the West and in the Muslim world.

In brief, the answer is that the critics fail to see past the surface of Islam, a surface which is then judged by modern Western standards, while an adequate understanding of the feminine in Islam is impossible without an immersion in the ocean of Islamic spirituality, an ocean whose depths are expertly gauged with translations from no less than forty-eight Muslim sages, including narrations attributed to the Shi'i Imams, Peace be with them, philosophical pieces from authors such as Ibn Sinaand Mulla Sadra, poetry from Hafiz, 'Attar, and Rumi, and various 'irfani or sufi works including selections from Ibn 'Arabi and those of his school as well as selections from other writers such as Najm al-Din Kubra, Khwajah Abdallah Ansari and 'Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani, to mention but a few.

The translations range over a number of different topics including theology, cosmology and spiritual psychology, stitched together by the gender imagery used by the authors. The result is a demonstration that the gender concepts to be found in Islamic thought stem from its fundamental orientation toward Reality.

The feminist critique of Islam is exposed as simply the continuation of the negatively masculine proselytizing that has dominated Western attitudes toward Islam, and toward non-Western cultures generally, at least since the colonial period. Instead of using Western models to frame her discussion, the author breaks new ground in comparative studies by explaining gender dualities in Islamic thought in terms of the Taoist polarity between yin and yang.

The Tao of Islam is truly a sourcebook of Islamic thought that is destined to become a classic. At the same time, the work is also bound to be controversial and misunderstood. At issue is the treatment of women in Islamic law. By focusing on the symbolic dimension of gender, Murata is sure to be misunderstood by two factions: legalists who do not care to see beyond the letter of the law, and those who are opposed to Islamic law.