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Following Sayyida Zaynab: Twelver Shi'ism in Contemporary Syria

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Following Sayyida Zaynab: Twelver Shi'ism in Contemporary Syria Following Sayyida Zaynab: Twelver Shi‘ism in Contemporary Syria by Edith Andrea Elke Szanto Ali-Dib A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto © Copyright by Edith Szanto, 2012 Following Sayyida Zaynab: Twelver Shi‘ism in Contemporary Syria Edith Szanto Ali-Dib Doctor of Philosophy Centre for the Study of Religion University of Toronto 2012 Abstract Outsiders, such as Lebanese and Syrian Shi‘is often refer to Twelver Shi‘is in the Syrian shrine-town as ‘traditional,’ and even ‘backward.’ They are not the only ones. Both Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah ‘Ali Khamenei have called the bloody flagellation practices, which have only increased in popularity in Sayyida Zaynab over the past few decades, ‘backward’ and ‘irrational.’ Why do these outsiders condemn these Twelver Shi‘is and their Muharram rituals? Why are ‘traditional’ practices popular in the Syrian shrine-town of Sayyida Zaynab? What does ‘tradition’ mean in this context? This dissertation begins with the last question regarding the notion of ‘tradition’ and examines seminary pedagogy, weekly women’s ritual mourning gatherings, annual Muharram practices, and non-institutionalized spiritual healing. Two theoretical paradigms frame the ethnography. The first is Talal Asad’s (1986) notion that an anthropology of Islam should approach Islam as a discursive tradition and second, various iterations of the Karbala Paradigm (Fischer 1981). The concepts overlap, yet they also represent distinct approaches to the notion of ‘tradition.’ The overarching argument in this dissertation is that ‘tradition’ for Twelver Shi‘is in Sayyida Zaynab is not only a rhetorical trope but also an intimate, inter-subjective practice, which ties pious Shi‘i to the members of the Family of the Prophet. The sub-topics are changing patterns in religious pedagogy, the role of embodiment, self, and inter-subjectivity in women’s ritual mourning gatherings, and the applicability of Mikhail Bakhtin’s concept of the carnivalesque (1984). Inspired by Frederick M. Denny (1985), who coined the term ‘orthopraxy’ to describe the importance of ritual practice in ii Islam, this dissertation refers to transgressive and carnivalesque religious performances as ‘heteropraxy.’ In particular, the emphasis on ‘heteropraxy’ is a critique of recent research on Arab Muslim women’s piety by Saba Mahmood (2005) and Lara Deeb (2006). iii Acknowledgments I would like to thank my adviser, Amira Mittermaier, and my committee, Karen Ruffle, Michael Lambek, and Walid Saleh for their valuable insights and their support. I would also like to thank my family, and my Syrian interlocutors who so generously opened their hearts and their homes. iv Table of Contents Contents Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ v List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Appendices ......................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 1 1 Introducing Sayyida Zaynab ...................................................................................................... 2 1.1.1 Sayyida Zaynab: a heterotopia of tradition ......................................................... 12 1.1.2 Sayyida Zaynab’s rituals of mourning .................................................................. 24 1.2 The Karbala Paradigm ...................................................................................................... 31 1.2.1 The performative community and it moral guides ................................................ 34 1.2.2 Carnivalesque piety ............................................................................................... 37 1.3 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 41 Chapter 2 Institutionalizing Authority, Piety, and Learning ......................................................... 44 2 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 44 2.1.1 Claiming the Prophet’s legacy .............................................................................. 46 2.2 Shi‘i institutions ................................................................................................................ 50 2.2.1 Zaynab’s shrine ..................................................................................................... 53 2.2.2 Hospitals and charitable organizations ................................................................. 55 2.2.3 Seminaries ............................................................................................................. 56 2.2.4 Husayniyyāt .......................................................................................................... 63 2.3 Learning ‘tradition’ ........................................................................................................... 65 2.3.1 Cultivating pious subjects ..................................................................................... 69 2.3.2 Re-orienting ritual space ....................................................................................... 80 v 2.4 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 84 Chapter 3 Affective Piety .............................................................................................................. 86 3 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 86 3.1.1 Affect and pious relationships .............................................................................. 87 3.1.2 Affective (un)truths ............................................................................................... 90 3.2 Ritualized mourning .......................................................................................................... 94 3.2.1 Majālis ‘Azā’ ......................................................................................................... 97 3.2.2 While waiting ...................................................................................................... 103 3.3 Following Shi‘i saints ..................................................................................................... 109 3.3.1 Relating to/through patron saints ........................................................................ 115 3.3.2 On becoming a mullaya ...................................................................................... 118 3.4 Media(ting) piety ............................................................................................................ 123 3.4.1 Haram and halal music in the “Age of Mechanical Reproduction” .................... 124 3.4.2 Basim Karbala’i and ethical listening ................................................................. 127 3.4.3 Muqtada Sadr’s distracted sympathies ................................................................ 129 3.5 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 131 Chapter 4 ‘Ashura: Carnivalizing Piety ..................................................................................... 133 4 Introduction: ‘Ashura and the Syrian ‘ulama ......................................................................... 133 4.1.1 Muharram hospitality tents ................................................................................. 136 4.1.2 Debates on tatbīr and the construction of religious authority ............................. 140 4.2 ‘Ashura – a soteriological interpretation ......................................................................... 144 4.2.1 Tatbīr: a miraculous performance ...................................................................... 146 4.2.2 Muharram vows .................................................................................................. 152 4.3 Carnivalesque spectacles ................................................................................................ 155 4.3.1 Transgressive piety and the grotesque ................................................................ 158 4.3.2 Doubting excess .................................................................................................. 163 vi 4.4 Finale ............................................................................................................................... 164 Chapter 5 Spiritual Healing ........................................................................................................ 167 5 Introducing heteropraxy ......................................................................................................... 167 5.1.1 Encountering the spiritual doctor ........................................................................ 173 5.2 Defining ruqya shari’yya (or permissible magic)
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