In the introduction, "rights and lives," abu-lughod outlines the themes she will be discussing in the rest of the book. she discusses the argument against the over-generalization "that mythical place where muslim women undifferentiated by nation, locality, or personal circumstance" and othering "lives that are totally separate and different from our own" of muslim women (26). in chapter 1, "do muslim women (still) need saving? " abu-lughod examines the case history of bibi ayisha in 2010 and thereby revisits some comments she made in the aftermath of the us invasion of afghanistan in. she explores the concept of humanitarian "saviorship" with the nineteenth-century missionary rhetorics of salvation.