Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-p566r Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T18:59:01.687Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - The Khuṭba Scene in Arab Religious Films and TV Dramas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2020

Simon Stjernholm
Affiliation:
University of Copenhagen
Elisabeth Özdalga
Affiliation:
The Swedish Research Institute
Get access

Summary

The growing body of scholarship on ʿulamaʾ in the twentieth century tends to focus on the rise of their institutions, the development of their teaching, their relationship to the state and their international linkages. There has also been some interest in how they began to use the media, in particular print. However, the depiction of ʿulamaʾ in modern fiction has received little scholarly attention. This is unfortunate, as it might yield insights into the changing role and status of the ʿālim in modern Muslim societies. As vehicles of mass culture, film and later television are interesting, not just for their mass culture appeal, but also for their capacity to create identifiable images and stereotypical roles. This chapter explores the changing perceptions of the role of the ʿulamaʾ by focusing on one particular activity of theirs, the delivery of the Friday sermon, and on how the films and TV dramas relate them to their audiences.

Analysing a specific scene can be fruitful. Film narrative is composed in edited scenes of light and sound. Specific locations, acts or characters evoke particular responses in audiences, often supported by standard shots or sounds. For instance, a scene of a muezzin's call to prayer, with a panoramic shot of a rural landscape and village, is a staple of Egyptian films. This scene connotes the tranquil, peaceful rhythm of daily life as it once was, and perhaps ought to be (Qasim 1997: 67). Films rarely depict the call to prayer in a busy, modern Cairo district – although it takes place there as often – but the meaning would be much less clear and identifiable to cinema audiences.

The scene of the Friday khuṭba is well known to most Muslim men in the Arab world. Loudspeakers, radio and television have familiarised other groups in Arab society with sermon content, and they readily recognise the scene. The use of the word minbar (pulpit) as the title of Islamic periodicals and TV programmes testifies to the association of the khuṭba with authoritative religious address in contemporary Arab public imagery. It is an instance of communication and of collective attention, and thus eminently suited to narratives of social engagement and action, of communal life and of religious inspiration as the mover of men. Hence, it makes for an attractive scene in a film.

Type
Chapter
Information
Muslim Preaching in the Middle East and Beyond
Historical and Contemporary Case Studies
, pp. 30 - 47
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×