In the Preface, Fadwa El Guindi states that her book is a study “born out of fieldwork on the contemporary Islamic movement” and represents “an original synthesis of ethnography, history, Qur[ham]anic text, Hadith, and Tafsir.” But the book is also exhortatory. In a preliminary sentence that takes the place of a dedication, El Guindi expresses the hope her book will reach those who have made the decision to veil, those who have refused, those who have always veiled, and those who have never veiled. It is clear that El Guindi's main audience is Muslim women and men, whom she invites to understand the religious, political, and sociological origins of their current stances for or against veiling. Yet the non-Muslim reader, who feels graciously invited into the audience to observe and learn, easily understands her arguments.