Islamicate Textiles (fashion, Fabric, And Ritual)

By (author) Shirazi Faegheh
Description:

Textiles and clothing are interwoven with Islamic culture. In Islamicate Textiles, readers are taken on a journey from Central Asia to Tanzania to uncover the central roles that textiles play within Muslim-majority communities.

This thematically arranged book sheds light on the traditions, rituals and religious practices of these regions, and the ways in which each one incorporates materials and clothing. Drawing on examples including Iranian lion carpets and Arabic keffiyeh, Faegheh Shirazi frames these textiles and totemic items as important cultural signifiers that, together, form a dynamic and fascinating material culture. Like a developing language, this culture expands, bends and develops to suit the needs of new generations and groups across the world.

The political significance of Islamicate textiles is also explored: Faegheh Shirazi’s writing reveals the fraught relationship between the East – with its sought-after materials and much-valued textiles – and the European countries that purchased and repurposed these goods, and lays bare the historical and contemporary connections between textiles, colonialism, immigration and economics. Dr Shirazi also discusses gender and how textiles and clothing are intimately linked with sexuality and gender identity.

Table of contents:

Introduction

1. Textiles and Symbols: A Mélange of Cultural Signifiers
Kanga: Cloth with a Message
Lion of Persia: pre-Islamic to Contemporary Iran
Felt and Fabrics under Domination: Central Asia
Ram’s Horn: Central Asia and Iran

2. Talismanic Textiles: Gender, Status, and the Supernatural
Protecting Fiber and Livelihood: the Ladakh
Blessed Looms, Blessed Fibers
Sacred Colors: Red, White, and Light Blue
Beyond the Loom
Amulets: Protection Against the Unseen
Inscribed Talismanic Shirts
Gendered Looms

3. The Politicization of Textiles: Colonialism to the Present
India and Cotton: Rejecting Colonial Rule
United We Stand: India’s Muslim Weavers
West African Wax Cloth
Calico: the Forbidden Indian Cotton
Indian Cloth in Southeast Asia
Keffiyeh: from Functional to Symbolic
The Russian Colonial Effect on Central Asian Textiles
Russian Political Symbolism on Woven Carpets

4. Textiles and Crisis: Displacement & Occupation
Rohingya of Burma
Syria
Iraq
Afghanistan
Siddis, Afro Indians
Pakistan/India separation: Becoming two nations
Indonesia
Palestine

5. Textiles and Death Rituals in Islamicate Societies
Burial Garment for Muslims: the Kafan
Piecing Together the Past: Tiraz and Halaqa
Tomb Covers for the Prophet Muhammed: Kiswa
Tomb Covers: Signifiers of Status
Indian and South Asian Tomb Covers
Haji Ali Dargah
Ajmer Sharif Dargah
Egyptian Funeral Tents: The Art of Khayamiya

Conclusion

Review quote:
Engaging. Informative. Sedulous.
Review quote:
Reflects Islam’s wide-ranging and profound impact on fabric, fashion and ritual beyond the Middle East. Stunning images illuminate every chapter and with detailed analysis, this book shifts and deepens our understanding of what the West understands of Islamic textiles and cultures. Essential reading.
Review quote:
This book illuminates fascinating aspects of cultural and religious signifiers in textiles and dress with themed chapters, linking together local practices with broader traditions throughout the Islamic world. An excellent addition to reference library collections and reading lists for graduate seminars in global dress.
Biographical note:
Faegheh Shirazi is a Professor in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies at The University