Medicines Of The Soul: Female Bodies And Sacred Geographies In A Transnational Islam

Medicines of the Soul Medicines of the Soul Female Bodies and Sacred Geographies in a Transnational Islam Fedwa Malti-Douglas university of california press Berkeley . Los Angeles . London University of California Press Berkeley and Los Angeles, California University of California Press, Ltd. London, England © 2001 by The Regents of the University of California Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Malti-Douglas, Fedwa. Medicines of the soul : female bodies and sacred geographies in a transnational Islam / Fedwa Malti-Douglas. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. isbn 0-520-21593-1 (cloth : alk. paper).— isbn 0-520-22284-9 (pbk. : alk paper) 1. Women in Islam. 2. Feminism—Religious aspects—Islam. 3. Sex differentiation—Religious aspects—Islam. I. Title. bp173.4 .m35 2001 297
.082 — dc21 00-021550 cip Manufactured in the United States of America 09 08 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00  The paper used in this publication is both acid䊊 free and totally chlorine-free (tcf). It meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso z39.48-1992 (r 1997) (Permanence of Paper). To the companions of my life and work Contents 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. List of Illustrations ix Preface xi Introduction xvii Gender, Culture, and Religious Revival Female Body, Male Gaze Gender and Spiritual Vision Breast Cancer, Medicine, and the Transnational Body Corporal Geographies of Salvation Sacred Springs, Damaged Bodies The “Integrated” Body Geographies of the Sacred 1 15 48 69 93 119 148 168 Notes 187 Index 219 Illustrations 1. Cover of the first edition of Rihlatî min al-Sufûr ilâ al-Hijâb 2. Cover of the second edition of Rihlatî min al-Sufûr ilâ al-Hijâb 3. Photograph of Karîmân Hamza on the last page of Rihlatî min al-Sufûr ilâ al-Hijâb 4. Photograph of Karîmân Hamza on the penultimate page of Rihlatî min al-Sufûr ilâ al-Hijâb 5. Cover of the original Arabic edition of Falâ Tansa Allâh 6. Cover of N’oublie pas Dieu, the French translation of Falâ Tansa Allâh 42 43 44 45 114 115 ix Preface I have been living with Medicines of the Soul for many years. The book grew out of extended residences in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. More correctly, the book grew out of innumerable trips to bookstores, walks along crowded Middle Eastern and North African streets, lined as they are with displays of books and pamphlets, raids on any open kiosks selling printed works, visits to book peddlers outside mosques marketing religious pamphlets, and so on. Collecting these varied and fascinating materials led to my becoming immersed in the discourses of the contemporary Muslim revival. I was especially intrigued by the cultural aspect of this revival, in particular its literary and artistic production. At the same time, my interests pushed me toward the gender component of the revival and the concomitant articulation of female spirituality. The first edition of Karîmân Hamza’s book sitting in a kiosk near Groppi’s in Cairo attracted my attention long before I was even considering writing