MI week 8

Tuesday (8a)

Language performance and Shia Islam. Ashura' falls on Saturday, Oct 23.

NOTE: The Shia represent roughly 10-12% of the world's Muslims. Large Shia populations (> 1 million) can be found in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, India, Yemen, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Nigeria, Afghanistan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, Lebanon. The following countries are predominantly (>50%) Shia: Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Iraq. Because Shia fundamentally believe in a line of imams, connected to the Prophet Muhammad through his daughter Fatima, and because there are occasionally disagreements over succession, a number of different subgroups have emerged over history, including: the "Twelvers" (Ithna`ashar) who comprise around 85% of the total Shia population (this is the dominant group in both Iran and Iraq), as well as Zaidi ("fiver"; prevalent in Yemen) and several different Ismaili groups (Nizari, and several subgroups of Bohra) (Ismailis are also known as "seveners", a misnomer since they consider the chain of imams to continue to the present). The Druze also stem from the Ismaili branch. This tree clarifies the relationships among these many different groups, in some respects resembling the branching of Sufi groups as disagreements occur over succession.

NEWS ITEMS:

• Saudi Arabia Shia attack: Five killed at Ashura event

Due today

All read:

• Schimmel, Islam: An Introduction; pp. 91-100 (on Shia and related sects)
• Encyclopedia Iranica entry for “Ashura”: http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/asura

Browse: the Niamatullahi sufi order website: http://nimatullahi.org/ This Shia Sufi order was widespread among Iranian elites before the revolution in 1979. Today centers exist outside Iran throughout the world.

Watch these film segments (each one is only about 1-5 minutes long):

• Iran Emerges: The Shia Revival and Conflicts within Islam (01:08)
• The Martyrdom of Hussein and Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric (02:48)
• Islam and Nuclear Weapons Rhetoric (02:04)
• Pilgrimage Day 1: Protection from Dangers (04:26)
• Pilgrimage Day 2: An Ancient Iranian House of Strength (02:25)
• Iran's Martyrs: The Battle of Karbala (04:09)
• Iran's Martyrs: Overthrowing the Shah (05:48)
• Shia Muslim Pilgrims Remember Imam Hussein (02:46)
• Shia Muslim Pilgrims Reach Karbala (02:00)
• Shia Muslim Pilgrims Celebrate (04:12)

(if you have time watch the entire film - http://digital.films.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=8750&xtid=37298 )

Locate one youtube (or other online) video relevant to Islamic or Sufi language performance among the Shia.

Locate one contemporary news item about Sufism or Ashura among Shia groups, to share with the class, such as the following:

• http://www.rferl.org/content/Sufism_Under_Attack_In_Iran/1499990.html

Write: One page, discussing the following in brief: Who are the Shia? what are the differences between Sunni and Shia branches of Islam? How does Sufism differ? What are the various Shia branches and how do they differ from each other? In what countries are they found? Why do you think certain Shia and Sunni groups are in conflict today? What are some of the genres of language performance — connected with Sufi groups or particular festivals — that are distinctive to Shia Islam? How does ritual take on political meanings? What roles might ritual play in sustaining or ameliorating conflict? What sort of language performance did you locate on youtube? What contemporary news? (Include links to the youtube video and popular news item you found). Submit using eClass under 8a.

Class

• Islamicate and Sufi musics, continued.
• Shia practices and mysticism in Iran.
  • Background on the Shia
  • Film, "Mystic Iran". This film is not available online, unfortunately, but I will place it on reserve at Rutherford Library.

Thursday (7b)

Ashura'

Due today

Research paper outline and initial bibliography (submit using associated link. Note that this time you'll upload your document.)

Reading and Discussions: Everyone pick one of the following papers to present on Thursday; write a one-page summary and critique of the article. What is it about? What are its conclusions? What do you think of these conclusions - can you see any limits, hidden assumptions, in the author's analysis? Try to locate online media (youtube, etc.) relevant to this paper and include the URLs in your submission. Submit using eClass under 8b. Be ready to present, discuss, and critique your article in class! If more than one person picks the same article we'll have the benefit of multiple "takes" on the same piece, which will be interesting to compare. If you can find any online media relevant to your reading, please bring the link and we can watch/listen together.

Here are your choices:

1) "Embodiment and Ambivalence: Emotion in South Asian Muharram Drumming" Richard K. Wolf. Source: Yearbook for Traditional Music, Vol. 32 (2000), pp. 81-116. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3185244 .

2) "Islamic Music in an Indian Environment: The Shi'a Majlis" Regula Burckhardt Qureshi Ethnomusicology Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 41-71 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/850974

3) "Performative elements of Shi'ite ritual and mass mobilization: The case of Iran" Heidar G. Azodanloo

(scroll down to find the article)

4) "Shia Lamentation Rituals and Reinterpretations of the Doctrine of Intercession: Two Cases from Modern India" David Pinault Source: History of Religions, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Feb., 1999), pp. 285-305 Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3176355

Class

Student presentations, critiques, and discussions.