Shiʿa and Ashurāʾ: The Mainstream Ithnā ʿashariyya traditions

Tuesday (8a)

Language performance and Ithanʿashar Islam in the central Shia domains (Iran, Iraq, Lebanon)

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" (Ithnaʿashar) 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.

This week we'll focus on the Ithaʿashar or "Twelvers"

Note: This year Ashura' (the 10th day of the first month, Muharram) starts in the evening of Tue, Jul 16, 2024 – Wed, Jul 17, 2024

Due today

Read:

• Schimmel, Annemarie. Islam : An Introduction.; pp. 91-100 ("The Shia and Related Sects")
• Qureshi, Regula. "Islamic Music in an Indian Environment: The Shi'a Majlis". Ethnomusicology, Vol. 25, No. 1 (Jan., 1981), pp. 41-71, Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/850974. Skim the details; try to grasp the main genres and contexts, then listen to examples, below.
• Chelkowski, Peter J. Time Out of Memory: Ta'ziyeh, the Total Drama, TDR: The Drama Review, Volume 49, Number 4 (T 188), Winter 2005. (skim the text boxes)

Listen selectively: Listen to these genres from Regula Qureshi's field recordings; follow along with her article using the track listing.

Watch: “The Troupe.”, about a Taʿzieh performance. From Films On Demand, Films Media Group, 2002 (if you have trouble with the link visit Films on Demand and search for the title).

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. Sufism is not a "sect" as sometimes described, but a mystical dimension present in both Sunni and Shia Islam.

Write and submit: One page, discussing the following in brief: Who are the Shia? what are the differences between Sunni and Shia branches of Islam? What are the various Shia branches and how do they differ from each other? In what countries are they found? What genres of language performance are distinctive to Shia Islam?

Note: Everyone pick one paper to read and present on Thursday (see below and email me your preference)

Class

1) Ethics and fieldwork (for those who are adding a fieldwork dimension to their papers)

2) Ithna'ashar Shia practices and mysticism (majority in Iran, Iraq, and parts of Lebanon, as well as minority diasporas worldwide)

• Taʿzieh: sacred theatre? on the border of the Islamicate? Art vs ritual. Issues of music and singing. Performer intention, performance context.
• Islamic and Islamicate interactions: Language performance of Shia ritual (majlis or taʿzieh; see film 38:22) and in Persian classical music (the great Mohammed Shajarian): vocal timbre and the ethos of sadness.
• Zurkhaneh: the House of Strength
• Discussion, questions.

Thursday (8b)

Due today

Reading and Discussions: Everyone pick one of the following papers to present; 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; if you email me your choice I will add your name so others can plan not to replicate....

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

2) Heidar G. Azodanloo (1993) "Performative elements of shi'ite ritual and mass mobilization: The case of Iran", Critique: Journal of Critical Studies of Iran & the Middle East, 2:3, 35-54, DOI: 10.1080/10669929308720039

3) "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

4) Formichi, Chiara. 2014. “Shaping Shi’a Identities in Contemporary Indonesia between Local Tradition and Foreign Orthodoxy.” Die Welt Des Islams 54 (2): 212–36. https://www.jstor.org/stable/24268922 Alanna

5) Lewisohn, Leonard. 1997. “The Sacred Music of Islam: Samā’ in the Persian Sufi Tradition.” British Journal of Ethnomusicology 6: 1–33. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3060828 Ziyad

6) Hemmasi, Farzaneh. 2013. “Intimating Dissent: Popular Song, Poetry, and Politics in Pre-Revolutionary Iran.” Ethnomusicology 57 (1): 57–87. https://doi.org/10.5406/ethnomusicology.57.1.0057.

Class

Student presentations, critiques, and discussions.