Content Warning: This section of the guide describes and discusses the source text’s treatment of cultural and religious practices related to women’s rights, gender roles, violence against women (including “honor killings” and female genital mutilation), and religious interpretations.

Geraldine Brooks recounts an experience at a Saudi Arabian hotel, where she is denied a room on the grounds of being an unaccompanied woman, a situation against Saudi law. This incident leads to her spending a night at a police station due to the lack of alternative accommodations. She then transitions into a historical reflection, focusing on the Prophet Muhammad and his first wife, Khadija. Muhammad, initially a poor, illiterate orphan, married his wealthy employer, Khadija, who proposed to him.

Brooks highlights the contrasting experiences of women in Islam, from the influential position of Khadija, who was never required to veil or seclude herself, to the enforced seclusion and veiling of women in contemporary Saudi Arabia. Brooks recounts the evolution of women’s roles in Islam, noting that after Khadija’s death, revelations about women’s status began to emerge, leading to practices like veiling and seclusion. Brooks mentions the Prophet Muhammad’s marriages after Khadija’s death, the subsequent jealousies and intrigues among his wives, and the broader application of seclusion rules initially meant solely for the Prophet’s wives to other Muslim women.