History of the Middle East balance of power in the Muslim world as Egypt once again emerged as a major power. Religion always played a prevalent role in Middle Eastern culture, affecting learning, architecture, and the ebb and flow of cultures. When Muhammad introduced Islam, it jump-started Middle Eastern culture, inspiring achievements in architecture, the revival of old advances in science and technology, and the formation of a distinct way of life. Islam primarily consisted of the five pillars of belief, including confession of faith, the five prayers a day, to fast during the holy month of Ramadan, to pay the tax for charity (the
Islamophobia in the United States of Islam. In support of this presumption, many scholars conclude that women's status in Islam has a complex history, one that implies instances of male privilege and the relegation of women to a second class citizenry. However, more recently, a movement known as Progressive Reformism, spearheaded by activists like Fatima Mernissi, assert that Islam is not stagnant, but rather a dynamic text that can adapt and evolve to society. Fatima Mernissi, a leader in the Islamic Feminism movement, works to invalidate presumptions that Muslim women are inherently demoted to a second class position in the Islamic faith, in relation to