Women and Demons: Cult Healing in Islamic Egypt

Erscheinungsjahr 2002
ISBN: 978-90-04-12771-5
Verlag: Brill

Buch, Englisch, Band 86, 302 Seiten, Format (B × H): 166 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 558 g

Reihe: International Studies in Socio

This rich ethnographic study describes the nearly impossible challenge of the daily existence of women in the poor neighbourhoods of Cairo. When these women fall ill they often put the blame on beings from an invisible world that invaded their body (possession), and they seek the help of traditional healers in the Zar ceremony or Koran healing. This book examines in detail the links between cosmology, power and gender. It tackles questions such as ‘what is possession, what is being said with it, and what does society have to do with it?’. The author, who lived a long time in various poor areas of Cairo, attended many sessions of Koran healing and participated in the Zar ceremony. She observed and interviewed many possessed women, as well as healers and other ‘demon specialists’.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Sengers, Gerda

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziologie des Brauchtums und der Traditionen
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gender Studies, Geschlechtersoziologie
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft | Kulturwissenschaften Kulturwissenschaften
• Geisteswissenschaften Islam & Islamische Studien Islam & Islamische Studien

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Preface
Transcription and Pronunciation of the Arabic Script

I. Living and Working in Cairo
Research
Cairo
The structure of this book

II. Local Cosmology
Aspects of contemporary cosmology
Influences
Jinn and other non-human beings
Magic
Aspects of Islamic methods of healing

III. Anthropological Approaches to Possession and Healing
Research into possession
Zar Research
My own research

IV. The Zar
General description
Interpretation: zar as transition rite

V. Koran Healing
General description
Men, jinn and magic
Interpretation: Koran healing as transition rite

VI. Possession as a Central Element in Local Cosmology
Vulnerability
Semotiotic Structure
Zar and Koran healing

VII. A Kaleidoscopic Picture of Egyptian Society
Fatiha
Salma
Umm Mustafa
Umm Harbi
Iman
Huda
Reda’ (and others): visit of the jinn

VIII. Concluding observations

Appendix

Über Autor(innen)

Gerda Sengers, Ph.D. (2000) in Social Sciences, studied Semitic languages and cultures (MA 1988) and Cultural Anthropology and the Sociology of non-Western Societies (MA 1994) at the University of Amsterdam. She has traveled extensively through the Middle East and has lived in Egypt for many years.