The Fall of the Imam

Who will overthrow the Imam? Who will defeat the oppression, the tyranny, the injustice and the killings? ... Then, who is the Imam? Is he the man, the male, the father, the husband, the ruler, the leader? Bint Allah (the Daughter of God), a beautiful illegitimate girl, a child of sin, looked down upon by those around her, is falsely accused by the Imam of adulterous relationships and sentenced to death by stoning. This powerful and poetic novel by Egypt's leading feminist writer reveals the underlying hypocrisy of a male-dominated religious state, and raises awareness of the insufferable predicament of women in a society which will ultimately self-destruct. "More than any other woman, El Saadawi has come to embody the trials of Arab Feminism."--San Francisco Chronicle "A poignant-and brave-writer."--Marie Claire