H-NET BOOK REVIEW
Published by [log in to unmask] (March 2004)

Shemeem Burney Abbas. _The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual: Devotional
Practices of Pakistan and India_. Foreword by Elizabeth Warnock
Fernea. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002. xxx + 209 pp.
Illustrations, maps, bibliography, index. $45.00 (cloth), ISBN
0-292-70515-8.

Reviewed for H-Gender-MidEast by Shahnaz Rouse, Department of
Sociology, Sarah Lawrence College

(Re)Gendering Ritual/Religious Practices

Elizabeth Fernea puts the contribution of Shemeem Burney Abbas's
_The Female Voice in Sufi Ritual_ to scholarship on Islam and Muslim
ritual practices very succinctly in her foreword to the book.
Fernea points to certain lacunae and mis-recognitions among
"western" scholars regarding Islamic practices. Foremost among
these is a simplistic representation/understanding of Islam as a
"male" religion. Fernea argues that this fallacy is a consequence
of the tendency to "translate" Islam and Islamic practice into a
recognizable pattern, i.e. to render it familiar. This is done, for
example, by focusing on the mosque as a central site for religious
observance; and on textual materials rather than lived practice.
Fernea goes on to argue that such framing has led to a de-emphasis
on the relevance of alternative sites of religious practice (such as
the home, the street, and, in the case of this book, _sufi_ shrines,
festivals, and concerts); alternative voices (distinct from those
that dominate mosque culture), in this case, female voices; and
everyday practices. It is these biases and limitations of
understanding that Abbas's book attempts to overcome through its
choice of topic and field sites.

Abbas's book is an attempt to bring a more nuanced and polyvocal
understanding of both Islam and women's place within it to the
non-South Asian reader. The former aim is accomplished by looking
beyond the mosque (which has increasingly come to be a bulwark of
religious orthodoxy) to the shrine (which continues to constitute a
challenge to that very limited, orthodox reading of the "meaning" of
Islam). Shrines throughout the Muslim world, but in South Asia in
particular, reflect the popular vision of Islam as articulated by
its mystics, who are referred to by some as _sufis_. This vision
stands in contradistinction to the orthodox emphasis on dogma and
doctrine. Instead of conceptualizing the divine as transcendent,
_sufis_ see the divine as immanent. This very key distinction leads
_sufis_ and their followers to follow ritual practices that are
quite distinct from those of Islamic orthodoxy: and it is these
practices that constitute the focus of Abbas's study.

Not only do _sufi_ practices frequently constitute a counterpoint to
those of Islamic orthodoxy, they also have embedded in them a
significant space for what Abbas calls "the female voice" and what I
would refer to as the "female principle" which might even be
considered a "third way" (more on this later in the review). This
too adds an often-overlooked dimension in conventional studies of
Islam, i.e. the incorporation and presence of "the female." By
examining _sufi_ ritual practices in a variety of sacred and secular
settings, Abbas rightly argues that women are central to _sufi_
Islam in a variety of ways: through their presence at shrines and
their performance as musicians and singers of _sufi_ poetry, and as
a prominent narrative voice in _sufi_ poetry itself. Looking at
_sufi_ ideas and practice thus constitutes a sharp departure from
mosque-centered and textual studies of Islam wherein women are
noticeable by virtue of their frequent absence rather than
incorporation into the religious body (of the mosque) except on the
sidelines. Abbas argues that not only are women central to _sufism_
in the variety of ways just mentioned, but male singers of _sufi_
lyrics recognize the significance of the female voice in such poetry
and consider it central to their performances. Thus it is not only
women who are drawn to the "female voice" in _sufism_ but male
believers and performers as well.

In order to document and validate her claims regarding the presence
and significance of women and the "female voice," Abbas utilizes a
multiplicity of methods. She bases her argument partially on
ethnography undertaken at various field sites within and outside
Pakistan. This ethnography is based on visits to shrines, concerts,
and different festivals. Her presence at various _sufi_
performances leads to her assertion that male performers adopt the
female voice both literally and figuratively. Abbas's ethnographic
study of performances in the region and abroad, especially in the
United Kingdom, allows her to demonstrate the shifts in practice
even as she argues for the continued existence of ecstatic response
as key to different performative contexts. She also undertakes an
extensive textual analysis and translation of the poetry sung at
these sites through which she effectively underscores her claim
regarding the centrality of the female voice in _sufi_ narratives.
Finally, interviews are conducted with several prominent singers of
_sufiana kalaam_ (mystical poetry) such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan,
Abida Parveen, and Alan Fakir, as well as ethnomusicologists and
radio programmers in Sind and at Radio Pakistan. These interviews
are then used to buttress the case Abbas makes for the relevance and
prominence of the female voice to _sufi_ beliefs, practices, and
performance.

While Abbas undertakes textual analysis, it is important to bear in
mind that such textuality is frequently linked to orality in the
_sufi_ tradition, i.e. the "texts" being analyzed are not
necessarily written down but are more often than not passed down
literally by "word of mouth," usually through recitation or more
often, singing. This is also one reason that _sufism_ has tended to
be widely practiced among the popular classes, especially in South
Asia, who do not have access--because of a lack of literacy and
familiarity with Arabic--to the canonical Islamic texts such as the
Qur'an and the _hadith_. This raises another crucial element
necessary to the popularity of _sufism_--its incorporation of "the
vernaculars," again in both a literal and a figurative sense: at
the literal level, _sufi_ poets in South Asia tended to write in the
local languages, thus making their ideas comprehensible to the local
population regardless of class or educational level; second, they
incorporated elements (especially in their epic poetry but also in
the concepts and terms they drew upon), from a variety of existing
religious and folk practice and concerns. This enabled them to
achieve comprehensibility in a dual sense and also made their
message more relevant to the context in which they lived.

At the level of theory, Abbas states that she applies "a range of
theories to interpret the data in the book" (p. xviii). She goes on
to say that "I have utilized the ethnography of speaking. In
addition I have applied the conversation analysis system whenever
appropriate to the context. The transliteration of live speech and
its context in the performances is based on a conversation analysis
scheme with adaptations.... I am aware there are a number of
theories about speech and performance, but I use only those that
relate to my work" (pp. xviii-xix). Later in the preface she
comments "I do not try to fit this book into any theoretical
frame.... I let the musicians speak about the female voices, about
themselves, about their linguistic resources, and about their
songwriters" (p. xxiv). Abbas claims that this approach, combined
with her emphasis on the context or _sama_ where _sufi_ poetry is
performed and received, allows her to broaden the horizon of her
readers and offers something missing in prior studies in this field.
It is, she claims, this contextual approach that allows her to
devote considerable attention to the role of women in _sufi_ thought
and practice.

In some basic ways, I concur with Fernea that Abbas's approach and
method allows her to bring a different understanding to extant
studies on Islam and women's participation and presence in religious
narratives, practices, and performances. Abbas ably demonstrates
that women are a vital presence at _sufi_ shrines. Not only that,
her transliteration of the narratives sung in the performances she
frequented further supports her contention regarding the centrality
of the female voice. I also thoroughly enjoyed her discussion of
the difference between _qawaali_ (collective harmonic singing) and
_kaafi_ singing. She shows the class difference between the two,
and the crossover from one to the other by some of the performers.
She appropriately points out that this difference occurs not only by
virtue of musical training (classical versus folk) but also through
the different languages deployed in the poetry (Arabic and Persian
versus the vernaculars). There is ample evidence that musicians and
singers such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abida Parveen, who are
trained and comfortable in both musical styles and also familiar
with a variety of linguistic material, can reach a wider and more
diverse audience than those more narrowly confined. This
expansiveness also permits these singers to seek out new patrons,
especially overseas.

All of these dimensions constitute the strength of the study.
However, there are some problems with the work. First, I find the
use of the term _sama_ to be problematic: rather than being
translated as "context," it can signify both "context" and
"ambience" or "atmosphere" (in a social sense). By rendering it
solely as "context," Abbas fails to make clear the precise meaning
of the sentiment that is being evoked in a particular context. In
other words, there is some linguistic slippage in the deployment of
the term, which may not have been as significant had Abbas not
ascribed so much currency and significance to her use of it. I do
not find the claim to the status of "native" scholar which Abbas
makes is particularly meaningful.

There is also some indication that this lack of a more complex
understanding of linguistic terms and meanings may have resulted
from the fact that the author was not entirely comfortable in the
interview setting. She mentions how difficult these were for her,
but gives us no explanation of why this should have been the case.
One possible explanation may be her own educational training and
upbringing in a certain class and social setting. This may explain
why her interviews were somewhat stilted and awkward. It might also
be the reason she conducted interviews with better known performers,
and ignored those who have not become commercial successes and/or
well known. It is somewhat ironic that in a study aimed at
distinguishing between elite and popular forms of _sufi_ music, the
author unselfconsciously reproduces another form of elitism, one
that favors celebrities. However, this is only one part of the
problem and is one of omission (although I would argue that this
choice is not random).

There is a more serious problem: in the interviews Abbas actually
did conduct, while both she and the interviewees reference and point
to the persistent presence of the female voice, what this signifies
to the interviewees is not as clear. Abbas seems to conflate this
with an identification with women, an assumption of the female
"role" as the submissive and dependent beloved, and/or a recognition
of the woman as oppressed and therefore purer and more able to speak
to life's inequities and injustices. In the interviews, Abbas does
not probe deeply enough to fully elicit the meaning of this voice to
the performers. Rather, she produces a reading that is hers, not,
as she claims, that of the performers. It is in this regard that
Abbas's inability to separate and distinguish between sex and
gender, and between gender and sexuality, becomes a conceptual
problem. Partially this conceptual lack is enabled by the
prominence Abbas places on epic narrative poetry where she draws
attention, rightly, to the salience of women. However, what she
does not address is why singers in the _sufi_ tradition invariably
choose to sing those segments which are in the female voice. A
clearer differentiation between sex, gender, and sexuality would
have been instructive. We might think of this consistent deployment
of the female voice in _sufi_ performance as an articulation of a
"third way" in a context where alternative conceptualizations of
gender and sexuality beyond the terms male and female, masculine and
feminine, did not yet exist. This reading is borne out not only by
the fact that so many _sufi_ poets and performers, past and present,
utilized the female voice in their lyrics and singing voice, but
many of them also had male partners (even though some of them were
married). An understanding such as Abbas's, which comprehends the
female voice solely in terms of existing notions of masculinity and
femininity, overlooks the vexity of existing constructions of both
gender and sexuality. By constantly equating or at least conflating
this "female voice" with women, Abbas overlooks the way in which
gender and sexuality came to be constructed in a time and place
where no independent terms yet exist(ed) for homosexuality, or at
least not in socially acceptable terms. This inability to see
through gender to sexuality is also evident in the singular meaning
Abbas ascribes to the word _hijra_, which she translates simply as
meaning "eunuch." While this is certainly the everyday
understanding of the term among most Pakistanis, recent studies have
shown that many of these _hijras_ are transvestites and transsexuals
rather than eunuchs (in the literal sense of the term). Abbas's
lack of familiarity with this literature stands in the way of her
pushing her analysis past the simple rendering of male and female as
sex difference.

Ultimately, this same lack gets in the way of Abbas's ability to
point to the truly subversive meanings of the very poetry she
translates. The radical nature of _sufiana kalaam_ resides not
only, as Abbas correctly points out, in an empathetic understanding
of the underdog, and a critique of existing social privilege (e.g.
the critique of social status and caste status articulated in _sufi_
thought and music), not only in a critique of patriarchy and
privileging of women and the female voice, but in a recognition of
the relation between devotion and desire. The strength of Abbas's
work, i.e. her emphasis on women in _sufi_ ritual practice and
performance, ultimately comes to constitute the limitation of this
work: it does not go past women. This also limits the author from
fully comprehending the gendering process at work. While cognizant
of the presence and significance of desire in this form of music and
devotional ritual practice, its multiple meanings are not entirely
grasped or fully articulated by the author.

In conclusion, I would like to state that this book will be of great
interest to students of Islam and create a better understanding of
its multiple expressions. It should also add to the body of
scholarship on _sufi_ Islam initiated by scholars such as Anne-Marie
Schimmel. Another genre of work to which it makes a significant
contribution is that of women and religion. It also lays the ground
for further studies into the area of the relation between ritual,
gender, and sexuality; as well as for more focused work on
historical and present day constructions of "tradition" (in this
case _sufi_ traditions) and their relationship to hybridity. I
found Abbas's discussion of the existence of hybridity in the _sufi_
corpus especially fascinating, and find that it raises interesting
questions about the relationship between tradition and authenticity
that move us away from fixing these terms in time and place. The
lacks that I have pointed to should also serve to generate new
interest in questions of sex, gender, and sexuality in the Islamic
"tradition," as well as the relation in _sufi_ Islam between
this-worldly and other-worldly devotion and desire. One possible
direction future research might take is to look at these themes
through the individual histories of _sufi_ poets and performers and
their works.


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Ms Sian Hawthorne
Acting Chair, Centre for Gender & Religions Research
Convenor, MA Gender Studies and Religion
Lecturer (part-time) Critical Theory & the Study of Religions

Department of the Study of Religions
SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

Tel: 020 7898 4774
Email: [log in to unmask]
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