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Leisurely Islam

Negotiating Geography and Morality in Shi‘ite South Beirut

Lara Deeb author Mona Harb author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Princeton University Press

Published:25th Oct '13

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Leisurely Islam cover

South Beirut has recently become a vibrant leisure destination with a plethora of cafs and restaurants that cater to the young, fashionable, and pious. What effects have these establishments had on the moral norms, spatial practices, and urban experiences of this Lebanese community? From the diverse voices of young Shi'i Muslims searching for places to hang out, to the Hezbollah officials who want this media-savvy generation to be more politically involved, to the religious leaders worried that Lebanese youth are losing their moral compasses, Leisurely Islam provides a sophisticated and original look at leisure in the Lebanese capital. What makes a caf morally appropriate? How do people negotiate morality in relation to different places? And under what circumstances might a pious Muslim go to a caf that serves alcohol? Lara Deeb and Mona Harb highlight tensions and complexities exacerbated by the presence of multiple religious authorities, a fraught sectarian political context, class mobility, and a generation that takes religion for granted but wants to have fun. The authors elucidate the political, economic, religious, and social changes that have taken place since 2000, and examine leisure's influence on Lebanese sociopolitical and urban situations. Asserting that morality and geography cannot be fully understood in isolation from one another, Leisurely Islam offers a colorful new understanding of the most powerful community in Lebanon today.

Winner of the 2014 British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize in Middle Eastern Studies One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 2014 "This outstanding ethnography of contemporary urban Middle Eastern life focuses on Hezbollah young adults, about whom people are generally misinformed, an effort of critical value to scholars of religion and politics as well as anthropologists... The authors brilliantly illustrate the variety and complexity of moral choice, ethnic insularity, and worldliness with respect to other neighborhoods and populations."--Choice "Leisurely Islam provides an interesting study of an area many people know very little about. It will interest scholars and students alike. While the book speaks particularly to those working on Lebanon and the Middle East, it will also be relevant to researchers dealing with issues regarding youth, morality, space and diversity in general."--Marianne Holm Pedersen, Social Anthropology

  • Winner of British-Kuwait Friendship Society Prize in Middle Eastern Studies 2014

ISBN: 9780691153650

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 539g

304 pages