The Prophet's Pulpit

by Gaffney, Patrick D.

• ISBN13: 9780520084728
• ISBN10: 0520084721
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr on Demand

Summary

Muslim preaching has been central in forming public opinion, building grassroots organizations, and developing leadership cadres for the wider Islamist agenda. Based on in-depth field research in Egypt, Patrick Gaffney focuses on the preacher and the sermon as the single most important medium for propounding the message of Islam. He draws on social history, political commentary, and theological sources to reveal the subtle connections between religious rhetoric and political dissent. Many of the sermons discussed were given during the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, and Gaffney attempts to describe this militant movement and to compare it with official Islam. Finally, Gaffney presents examples of the sermons, so readers can better understand the full range of contemporary Islamic expression.

Author Biography

Patrick D. Gaffney is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Notre Dame

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
The Social Organization of the Ritual Setting: The Mosque in Time and Space	p. 13
The Authority of Preachers	p. 27
The Mosque and the Cult of the Saint	p. 56
Islamization: The Tarboosh and the Beard	p. 80
The Sermon as Public Discourse	p. 113
Security and Belief in the Rhetoric of the Sermon	p. 124
Security and Belief: The Transformation of Social Status	p. 166
Morality and Religion in Ideology and Action	p. 183
Formalization and Structure: The Preacher as the Affirmation of Traditional Authority	p. 194
Creativity and Adaptation: The Preacher as Advocate of Religiously Inspired Modernity	p. 208
Unity and Commitment: The Preacher as Apologist for the Ideology of Islamic Fundamentalism	p. 238
Conclusion	p. 251
Appendixes
Sermon of Shaykh Mustafa, May 18, 1979	p. 271
Sermon of Shaykh Uthman, December 15, 1978	p. 278
Sermon of Shaykh Umar, April 6, 1979	p. 294
Notes	p. 317
Select Bibliography	p. 343
Index	p. 359
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