Practices of Popular Islam (winter term 2020/2021)

Many Muslims’ religious practice includes popular beliefs and customs at the margins of or even condemned by institutions of Islamic orthodoxy.

Focusing mainly on the Arab world, we will look at some aspects of magic, divination, customs related to the evil eye, visiting shrines, belief in jinn, and popular medicine that, though in part older than Islam and even older than monotheism, have formed an integral part of daily Islam in the MENA region throughout the centuries.

Both historical and modern documents and objects will help us explore Islamic popular religion and its often fluid boundaries to magic and the occult on the one hand, and to an often self-proclaimed orthodoxy on the other hand.

Among the required readings are:

Canaan, T.: Mohammedan Saints and Sanctuaries in Palestine, London 1927 (Luzac’s Oriental Religions Series 5).

Denffer, D.v.: “Baraka as Basic Concept of Muslim Popular Belief,” Islamic Studies 15/3 (1976): 167-186.

Fodor, A.: Amulets from the Islamic World, Budapest 1990 (Budapest Studies in Arabic 2).

Stauth, G. (ed.): On Archaeology of Sainthood and Local Spirituality in Islam. Past and Present Crossroads of Ideas, Bielefeld 2004 (Yearbook of the Sociology of Islam 5).

Wallis Budge, E.A.: Amulets and Superstitions, London 1930 (available at archive.org/details/b29978154).

The syllabus will be made available to the participants by the lecturer.

University-level command of English language, good Arabic reading abilities.

Open to students on the MA and PhD level, as well as post-graduates. You will need a computer with speaker and webcam, as well as a reliable internet connection, to participate.

 To enroll, please email the instructor directly at ursula.bsees"AT"lmu.de.  The deadline for registration is October 15, 2020.