Patriarchal Masculinity in Recent Swahili-language Muslim Sermons

This paper offers a close examination of statements on patriarchal masculinity from three widely traded sermon recordings produced in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It sets them in the context of Islamic reform, Muslim political discontent, and the consumption of sermon recordings in East Africa. Despite simil...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of religion in Africa
Main Author: Becker, Felicitas 1971- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Brill 2016
In: Journal of religion in Africa
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Africa / Zanzibar / Islam / Sermon / Patriarchate / Masculinity
RelBib Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
BJ Islam
KBN Sub-Saharan Africa
RE Homiletics
Further subjects:B Islam Islamic reform women gender and Islam Islamic activism preaching preachers
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This paper offers a close examination of statements on patriarchal masculinity from three widely traded sermon recordings produced in Zanzibar, Tanzania. It sets them in the context of Islamic reform, Muslim political discontent, and the consumption of sermon recordings in East Africa. Despite similar assertions on the need for men to protect and control women, in close reading the three preachers offer quite divergent characterisations of the patriarch’s methods, obligations, and entitlements within the household. The sermons show that Islamic reform in Zanzibar cannot be reduced to political discontent, and that it hearkens back to longstanding regional history. They also suggest that the concept of patriarchy is more relevant to the understanding of asymmetrical gender relations than recent discussion of Western gender relations has allowed, and highlight the centrality of bearing and rearing children as a site for both assertion and failure of patriarchal control. Lastly, they indicate the failure of sermon preachers and listeners to coalesce into a coherent counterpublic.
ISSN:1570-0666
Contains:In: Journal of religion in Africa
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/15700666-12340080