Politics of Piety: The Islamic Revival and the Feminist Subject by Saba Mahmood Page B
Authors: Saba Mahmood
Tags: Religión, Social Science, Islam, womens studies, Anthropology, Cultural, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Islamic Studies, Rituals & Practice
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as old as sixty. Some of these women drive to the mosque in private cars, others arrive on Cairo's overcrowded public transportation, and still others come in taxis. The women's attire is striking in its variety. Many come dressed in fi tailored ankle..length skirts and tucked.. in blouses, with printed chiffon scarves wrapped tightly around their heads, conveying an air of modest sophistica.. tion. Others, including Hajja Faiza, wear well.- ilored, dark.- red long coats ( baltu) with heavy thick scarves covering their hair and neck. Still oth.. ers wear the khimii (plural : akhmira), a form of veil that covers the head and extends over the torso (similar to the cape worn by Catholic nuns), and that is very popular .among mosque attendees. There are even bareheaded women dressed in jeans and short tops, with styled hair and face makeup, who attend Hajja Faiza's lessons-a sight almost impossible to fi in other mosques. And yet, while a wide variety of attire is represented, it is rare to see a woman wear.. ing the niqii more conservative form of the veil that covers the head, face, and torso-at the Umar mosque; the absence of women wearing the niqab is an indicator of the kind of audience that Hajja Faiza's lessons attract.4
In contrast to the Umar mosque is the Ayesha mosque, located in one of the largest and poorest neighborhoods on the outskirts of Cairo. Tucked be.. tween teetering cinder block residential buildings, in a narrow and darkened alleyway, the Ayesha mosque is surrounded by the sounds of roosters crowing,
3 Note that l)adnh when written with a defi article refers to the entire collection of the Prophet's actions and speech ( the }:l ), of which six collections are considered to be the most authoritative. "A badith" refers to an individual account of the Prophet's actions and speech. See Robson 1 999b.
4 See chapter 3 on the spectrum of positions that the mosque participants take on the veil, and the doctrinal reasoning behind it.
children screaming, and vendors hawking their wares-offering a sharp con.. trast to the sobriety and order of the Umar complex. The Ayesha mosque is associated with the largest Islamic nonprofi organization in Egypt, a}.. Jameiyya al..Sharciyya, and provides extensive welfare services to the neigh..
borhood's residents. Religious lessons are offered twice a week by two women d�fiyat, and once a week by the male imam (prayer leader) of the mosque. In
contrast to the reserved decorum of the Umar mosque, an informal and un.. ceremonious atmosphere characterizes the Ayesha mosque. For example, women attendees often interrupt the teacher to ask questions or to put for.. ward altern opinions they have heard elsewhere. There is constant ban.. ter back and forth between the daciya and her audience. The daciyat here, as in the other mosques, also speak in Egyptian colloquial Arabic, but their speech is marked by street colloquialisms that are characteristic of their and
their audience's working..class (sha backgrounds.5 Unlike the air..conditioned
seclusion of the Umar mosque, the atmosphere of the Ayesha mosque is satu.. rated with the sounds, smells, and textures of the neighborhood in which the mosque is located.
While the age spectrum of women attendees at the Ayesha mosque is simi.. lar to that found at the Umar mosque, their educational backgrounds are more limited: the majority have no more than a high school education, and a large number are illiterate. Women attendees sit on the thinly carpeted concrete
fl most of them dressed in crumpled ankle..length gowns (galalzb; singular:
gallabiyya} and veils that cover their heads and torsos ( akhmira). In contrast to the Umar mosque, where women wearing the full face and body veil ( niqab) are almost never present, here a fu one..third of the attendees come
so attired. A majority wear the customary printed headscarves, and others dress in what has come to be called the balad dress, worn by the rural poor,
comprised of a loose
In contrast to the Umar mosque is the Ayesha mosque, located in one of the largest and poorest neighborhoods on the outskirts of Cairo. Tucked be.. tween teetering cinder block residential buildings, in a narrow and darkened alleyway, the Ayesha mosque is surrounded by the sounds of roosters crowing,
3 Note that l)adnh when written with a defi article refers to the entire collection of the Prophet's actions and speech ( the }:l ), of which six collections are considered to be the most authoritative. "A badith" refers to an individual account of the Prophet's actions and speech. See Robson 1 999b.
4 See chapter 3 on the spectrum of positions that the mosque participants take on the veil, and the doctrinal reasoning behind it.
children screaming, and vendors hawking their wares-offering a sharp con.. trast to the sobriety and order of the Umar complex. The Ayesha mosque is associated with the largest Islamic nonprofi organization in Egypt, a}.. Jameiyya al..Sharciyya, and provides extensive welfare services to the neigh..
borhood's residents. Religious lessons are offered twice a week by two women d�fiyat, and once a week by the male imam (prayer leader) of the mosque. In
contrast to the reserved decorum of the Umar mosque, an informal and un.. ceremonious atmosphere characterizes the Ayesha mosque. For example, women attendees often interrupt the teacher to ask questions or to put for.. ward altern opinions they have heard elsewhere. There is constant ban.. ter back and forth between the daciya and her audience. The daciyat here, as in the other mosques, also speak in Egyptian colloquial Arabic, but their speech is marked by street colloquialisms that are characteristic of their and
their audience's working..class (sha backgrounds.5 Unlike the air..conditioned
seclusion of the Umar mosque, the atmosphere of the Ayesha mosque is satu.. rated with the sounds, smells, and textures of the neighborhood in which the mosque is located.
While the age spectrum of women attendees at the Ayesha mosque is simi.. lar to that found at the Umar mosque, their educational backgrounds are more limited: the majority have no more than a high school education, and a large number are illiterate. Women attendees sit on the thinly carpeted concrete
fl most of them dressed in crumpled ankle..length gowns (galalzb; singular:
gallabiyya} and veils that cover their heads and torsos ( akhmira). In contrast to the Umar mosque, where women wearing the full face and body veil ( niqab) are almost never present, here a fu one..third of the attendees come
so attired. A majority wear the customary printed headscarves, and others dress in what has come to be called the balad dress, worn by the rural poor,
comprised of a loose
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