Journal Article

Emulating and/or embodying the ideal: The gendering of temporal frameworks and Islamic role models in Shi'i Lebanon

DEEB, LARA

2009

Overview

In this article, I discuss two of the major temporal frameworks that pious Shi'i Muslims in Lebanon draw on, as seen through the example of the Battle of Karbala, its annual commemoration during Ashura, and the work that the religious figures Imam Husayn and Sayyida Zaynab do in linking history to the contemporary moment. I suggest that, to fully understand how these two temporalities work, it is necessary to attend to the ways in which they are differently gendered. I conclude by proposing explanations for that gendering that take into account both the Ashura history itself and contemporary local and transnational political contingencies.

• Publisher: Blackwell Publishing Inc,Wiley Subscription Services,Wiley,American Ethnological Society,Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subject: Commemoration / Communities / Contingencies / Ethnology / Gender / Gender differences / Gender roles / History / Husayn, Imam / Imams / Islam / Islamism / Lebanon / Local politics / Men / Middle East / Muslims / Narrative modes / Religiosity / Religious festivals / Religious history / Religious icons / Religious leaders / Role models / Shia / Shia Muslims / Social relations. Intercultural and interethnic relations. Collective identity / Social structure and social relations / Temporality / Time / Volunteerism / Zaynab, Sayyida