Gender,sect and shrine: discursive contestations at Bibi Pak Daman,Lahore

The syncretic traditions and practices at a shrine can defy the prevalence of rationalistic bureaucratisation and authorised tradition along a number of vectors. One can find such activities at one of the most thriving shrines of Lahore, Pakistan, that of Bibi Pak Daman. Not only is this site unusual because of the veneration of women spiritual figures, additionally the contesting claims and practices found at this site map onto sectarian (Sunni-Shia) boundaries and challenge the very origin, found in modern historiographical narratives, of the shrine. Cleavages around gender and sect increase with the administrative taking over of the shrine by the postcolonial state of Pakistan, which is ideologically determined to wipe out pluralistic practices in the name of modernisation. Interestingly, this study shows that, contrary to disenchantment arising from bureaucratic modernisation, rationalising claims perversely add a few more localised practices giving depth to the shrines sacred geography and make no difference to devotee numbers.     

In Search of the Caliphate

“In Search of the Caliphate” discusses the historic split between Sunni and Shi'ite Islams in religious studies textbooks, general reference resources, multi-volume reference works on Islam, and briefly suggests other resources (monographs and articles). In analyzing textbooks, the article uses a template taken from the Encyclopedia of Religion (2005) and looks for the following characteristics in the discussion: the question of authority and succession in Islam after the death of the Prophet Mohammad; esoteric knowledge and the role of the Imam (particularly in Shi'a); the assassination of Husayn (the grandson of Mohammed); and the appearance of the eschatological figure of the Madhi in Twelver Shi'a. “Twelver Shi'ism” is used as a search term to analyze the information in reference works (both general works and those devoted to Islam). The conclusion highlights the challenges in researching this topic in a university library.