Abstract
The focal point of this Chapter is the Muslim religious gatherings of Iranian women, rowzeh-zanāneh and jaleseh,1 hereafter referred to simply as rowzeh, in the town of Shiraz. These involve complex rituals of nazr (vowing), meetings, regular Koranic classes, and memorial ceremonies. During the two holy months of Ramazān and Moharam the gatherings are arranged by private initiators in homes or public religious buildings with a female preacher, reyseh-jaleseh, as the central person directing the action. These women’s religious institutions should be considered as an important form of women’s subsociety and a key factor in signalling local identity.
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Further Reading
Laal Jamzadeh and Margaret Mills, ‘Iranian Sofreh: From Collectivity to Female Ritual’, in (ed) C. W. Bynum, S. Harrell and P. Richman (eds), Gender and Religion (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 1986).
Gustav Thaiss, ‘The Conceptualization of Social Change Through Metaphor’, Journal of Asian and African Studies, vol. XIII, no. 1–2 (1978), pp. 1–13.
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© 1993 Haleh Afshar
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Kamalkhani, Z. (1993). Women’s Everyday Religious Discourse in Iran. In: Afshar, H. (eds) Women in the Middle East. Women’s Studies at York Series . Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22588-0_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22588-0_4
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-22590-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-22588-0
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