The Women of Karbala : Ritual Performance and Symbolic Discourses in Modern Shi’i Islam

Commemorating The Battle Of Karbala, In Which The Prophet Mohammad's Grandson Hosayn And Seventy-two Of His Family Members And Supporters Were Martyred In 680 Ce, Is The Central Religious Observance Of Shi'i Islam. Though Much Has Been Written About The Rituals That Reenact And Venerate Karbala, Until Now No One Has Studied Women's Participation In These Observances. This Collection Of Original Essays By A Multidisciplinary Team Of Scholars Analyzes The Diverse Roles That Women Have Played In The Karbala Rituals, As Well As The Varied Ways In Which Gender-coded Symbols Have Been Used Within Religious And Political Discourses. The Contributors To This Volume Consider Women As Participants In And Observers Of The Karbala Rituals In Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, And The United States. They Find That Women's Experiences In The Shi'i Rituals Vary Considerably From One Community To Another, Based On Regional Customs, Personal Preferences, Religious Interpretations, Popular Culture, And Socioeconomic Background. The Authors Also Examine The Gender Symbolism Within The Rituals, Showing How It Reinforces Distinctions Between The Genders While It Also Highlights The Centrality Of Women To The Symbolic Repertory Of Shi'ism. Overall, The Authors Conclude That While Shi'i Rituals And Symbols Have In Some Ways Been Used To Restrict Women's Social Roles, In Other Ways They Have Served To Provide Women With A Sense Of Independence And Empowerment. Taʻziyeh : A Twist Of History In Everyday Life / Negar Mottahedeh -- The Gender Dynamics Of Moharram Symbols And Rituals In The Latter Years Of Qajar Rule / Kamran Scot Aghaie -- Oh, My Heart Is Sad. It Is Moharram, And The Moth Of Zaynab : The Role Of Aesthetics And Women's Mourning Ceremonies In Shiraz / Ingvild Flaskerud -- The Daughters Of Karbala : Images Of Women In Popular Shiʻi Culture In Iran / Faegheh Shirazi -- Iconography Of The Women Of Karbala : Tiles, Murals, Stamps, And Posters / Peter J. Chelkowski -- Sakineh, The Narrator Of Karbala : An Ethnographic Description Of A Women's Majles Ritual In Pakistan / Shemeem Burney Abbas -- Sayyedeh Zaynab : The Conqueror Of Damascus And Beyond / Syed Akbar Hyder -- Gender And Moharram Rituals In An Ismaʻili Sect Of South Asian Muslims / Rehana Ghadially -- Women Of Karbala Moving To America : Shi'i Rituals In Iran, Pakistan, And California / Mary Elaine Hegland -- Women's Religious Rituals In Iraq / Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, Basima Q. Bezirgan -- From Mourning To Activism : Sayyedeh Zaynad, Lebanese Shiʻi Women, And The Transformation Of Ashura. Edited By Kamran Scot Aghaie. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [265]-286) And Index. These 12 ethnographic essays explore women's roles in the rituals that commemorate the Battle of Karbala, the central religious observance of Shi'i Islam. The authors conclude that while rituals and symbols can restrict women's roles, they can also provide women with a sense of independence and empowerment