The Birth of the Prophet Muhammad, ﷺ,
*[A5+] Large Paperback - 283 pages,
by Marion Holmes Katz,
Published by Routledge.



In the medieval period, the birth (the Mawlid) of the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, was celebrated in popular narratives and ceremonies that expressed the religious agendas and aspirations of ordinary Muslims, including women.


This book examines the Mawlid from its origins to the present day and provides a new insight into how an aspect of everyday Islamic piety has been transformed by modernity. The book gives a window into the religious lives of medieval Muslim women, rather than focusing on the limitations that were placed on them and shows how medieval popular Islam was coherent and meaningful, not just a set of deviations from scholarly norms.

 

Concise in both historical and textual analysis, this book is an important contribution to our understanding of contemporary Muslim devotional practices and will be of great interest to postgraduate students and researchers of Islam, religious studies and medieval studies.
About the Author :

Table of Contents :


---[1]. The Emergence of Mawlid Narratives;
------An Archaeology of Mawlid Narratives,
------Formal Mawlid Texts,
------Conclusion.

---[2]. Gifts and Reciprocity in the Celebration of the Mawlid;
------Mawlid Banquets,
------Pious Utterances and the Generation of Merit,
------The Exchange of Merit and the Economy of Salvation,
------Conclusion.

---[3]. Emotion, Law and the Celebration of the Mawlid;
------Joy,
------Love,
------The Salvific Value of Personal Relationships,
------Standing as an Expression of Emotion,
------Conclusion.

---[4]. Time and Merit in the Celebration of the Mawlid;
------The Night of the Mawlid and Laylat al-Qadr,
------Special Times and their uses,
------Homogeneous and non-homogeneous time,
------Conclusion.

---[5]. Mawlids Under Attack;