In this comprehensive open access book, written for readers from any or no religious background, Leena El-Ali does something remarkable. Never before has anyone taken on every last claim relating to Islam and women and countered it not just with Qur’anic evidence to the contrary, but with easy-to-use tools available to all. How can a woman’s testimony be worth half of a man’s? How can men divorce their wives unilaterally by uttering three words? And what’s with the obsession with virgins in Paradise? Find the chapter on any of the seventeen topics in this book, and you will quickly learn a) where the myth came from and b) how to bust it. 

“Leena El-Ali’s work under review is a substantial, extensive elaboration on gender parity in the Qurʾān. ... This highly user-friendly work is divided and subdivided into 5 parts, 21 chapters, and a summary of each part devoted to the following themes: the nature and the rights of women, some problematic issues and carnal matters. Appended to the work are a note on contraception and abortion and an index. ... El-Ali’s sweep over the relevant material is astounding.” (Abdur Raheem Kidwai, The Muslim World Book Review, Vol. 45 (3), 2025)

Leena El-Ali is an international affairs, development, and investment professional with three decades of experience in conflict resolution and peacebuilding, entrepreneurship, and emerging market finance.