Research Catalog

Title

The pure and powerful : studies in contemporary Muslim society / Nadia Abu-Zahra.

Author

Abu Zahra, Nadia.

Publication

Reading, Berkshire, U.K. : Ithaca Press, c1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

xx, 320 p. : ill., map; 25 cm.

Summary

"The major part of this book is devoted to the study of the social life at the shrine of al-Sayyida Zaynab in Cairo. As granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad, al-Sayyida Zaynab is regarded by many as the patron saint of women. Their belief in her purity, and hence her powers, is part of the fabric of their thought. Al-Sayyida Zaynab's anniversary is an occasion observed by both government and people, and on the Great Night at the end of a week of celebrations, women's special association is expressed through a night-long vigil culminating in dawn festivities." "The other studies in the book include analyses of the practices of the common person in the performance of certain rituals, such as the rain rituals in Tunisia." "Throughout the work, the author seeks to break down the assumptions and stereotypes expressed in other studies on Muslim societies and provides us with a more accurate picture of how the Islamic tradition is developed and integrated within these societies."--BOOK JACKET.

Subject

• Zaynab bint ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib
• Islam > Rituals

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 307) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

Pt. 1. New Analytical Concepts for the Anthropological Study of The Performance of Islamic Rituals. 1. The Rain Rituals as Rites of Spiritual Passage. 2. The Comparative Study of Muslim Societies and Islamic Rituals -- Pt. 2. In the Marble Courtyard: A Study on al-Sayyida Zaynab, Patron Saint of Women. 1. Al-Sayyida Zaynab in Cairo and in the Hearts of the Egyptians. 2. Al-Sayyida Zaynab, Patron Saint of Women: The Dream and the Reality. 3. Women's Lives and the Fatawi that Guide Them. 4. The World of the Mawlid: Celebrations by People and Government. 5. The Great Night and the Dawn Festivities -- Pt. 3. A Comparative Study of the Performance of Islamic and Secular Rituals. 1. Ramadan in Cairo. 2. Spring Rites in Cairo. Street Map -- Diagram of the Women's Section of al-Sayyida Zaynab Mosque.

ISBN

• 0863721796
• 0863722695 (pbk.)

LCCN

^^^97146859^

OCLC

• 37639981
• SCSB-9931470

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library