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  3. Religion and Custom in a Muslim Society
  • Cited by 27
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    • Publisher:
      Cambridge University Press
      Publication date:
      27 August 2009
      26 July 1991
      ISBN:
      9780511521102
      9780521394857
      9780521024969
      DOI:
      https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511521102
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.545kg, 256 Pages
      Dimensions:
      (228 x 152 mm)
      Weight & Pages:
      0.386kg, 256 Pages
      • Subjects:
      Area Studies, African Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology
      Series:
      Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology (78)
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    • Selected: Digital
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    Subjects:
    Area Studies, African Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, Anthropology
    Series:
    Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology (78)
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    Book description

    Among the Berti of Northern Darfur (Sudan), as among many Muslim societies, the formal religious practices are predominantly the concern of men, while local, unorthodox customary rituals are performed mainly by women. It is usual to dismiss such local, popular practices as pre-Islamic survivals, but Professor Holy shows that the customary rituals constitute an integral part of the religious system of the Berti. Carefully analysing the symbolic statements made in Berti rituals, Professor Holy demonstrates that the distinction between the two classes of rituals is an expression of the gender relationships characteristic of the society. He also examines the social distribution of knowledge about Islam, and explains the role of the religious schools in sustaining religious ideas. The work is not only an ethnographic study of ritual, belief and gender in an African society. It also makes a significant contribution to current anthropological discussion of the interpretation and meaning of rituals and symbols.

    Reviews

    ‘… an intriguing monograph about Berti religious and ritual life that opens up dilemmas in the presuppositions inherent in the representations of Muslim societies.’

    Source: African Affairs

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