Gender, Sainthood, and Everyday Practice in South Asian Shi’ism

Contents

Contents Acknowledgments xi Notes on Transliteration xv INTRODUCTION 1 1 | SAINTS ARE “REAL” PEOPLE Imitable Sainthood in Shiʿism 23 2 | GOD’S STRONG WOMEN Female & Feminine in Shiʿi Sainthood 59 3 | THE SADDEST STORY EVER TOLD Translating Karbala through Feminine Voices & Emotions into a Deccani Shiʿi Idiom 85 4 | A BRIDE OF ONE NIGHT, A WIDOW FOREVER Text & Ritual Performance in the Constitution of an Idealized South Asian Shiʿi Selfhood 121 5 | WHO COULD MARRY AT A TIME LIKE THIS? Debating the Mehndī kī Majlis in Hyderabad 145 Glossary 171 Notes 177 Bibliography 189 Index 207 This page intentionally left blank Figures & Table FIGURES 1 | The Holy Five (Panjetan-e Pāk): Muhammad, ʿAli, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husain 55 2 | Bībī kā ʿalam procession, February 2006 71 3 | Sehrā bandhānā ceremony, December 2005 114 4 | Qasem ʿalam, 7 Muharram 2005 123 5 | Mehndī tray 125 TABLE 1 | Complementary Pairing of Imāmah-Walāyah and Ḥusainiyyat-Wilāyah 52 This page intentionally left blank ...