Sexuality and Islamic Spirituality in Early Malay Writings offers a fresh, interdisciplinary lens on Malay literature, uncovering ties between sexuality, spirituality, and gender. By challenging patriarchal narratives and illuminating female sexuality's spiritual dimensions, it redefines Islamic studies, gender discourse, and literary analysis-a must-read for anyone exploring religion, history, and human experience.

Ruzy Suliza Hashim, Professor, University of Economics and Human Sciences, Poland.

Deploying a feminist perspective, this landmark book traces the relationship between Islam and sexuality from the sixteenth century to the present. Speaking through a range of little-known sources, Malay voices, including women, offer their perspectives on the significance of sexual intimacy in Muslim lives. The authors have delivered a truly groundbreaking addition to Malay and Islamic studies.

Barbara Watson Andaya, Professor Emerita, University of Hawai'I, Hawai'i

Maznah Mohamad and Syahira Rasheed uncover here a sufistic textuality in which the pious subject not only prays and obeys the shariah but also achieves transcendence through sexual activity. They open up new possibilities in a scholarly field that has generally been content to accept a contemporary notion of female piety founded on the denial of passion, desire and sexual expression.

Julian Millie, Professor, Monash University, Australia