Middle East Media and Book Reviews Online Volume 1, Issue 1 | Page 18

2/2/2016

Middle East Media and Book Reviews Online

worldview as a shield, without implicating a complete rejection. It appears to be a strategy of approaching changes through a religious worldview.
The analysis shows that geographical borders are not the only important factor to identity construction. Rather, a dual consciousness develops
which bridges real and imagined spaces. The hybrid American Muslim identities, for example, appear as plastic and flexible, and are colored by
informants’ ethnic and national origin as well as sectarian differences. El-Aswad explains that his American Muslim informants consider their
Islamic worldview to be a balancing factor to materialism and secularism, not an alternative. The analysis illustrates that transnational and hybrid
identities change and reconstruct in unpredicted ways; el-Aswad holds that Muslim Americans can be viewed as cultural mediators able to bridge
dichotomies such as East and West.
The esoteric worldview of Shi‘a in Bahrain constitutes another case-study, where the social side of the worldview is addressed in order to examine
how religious practices impact the sociopolitical life of informants. The notion of revealing hidden truth and justice appears as the informants
highlight how the unseen cosmology, reproduced through art and ashura-rituals, for example, are relevant and present in everyday life and is
believed to have implications for the future of the informants. In placing the past in the present, the informants focus on a vision of the future which
includes a belief that the hidden Imam will return and bring justice. Another case-study is the relationship between Sufi beliefs and practices in
Egypt. Sufis are presented as living in an enchanted world, which is described as “embodied spirituality” requiring ethical and aesthetic attitudes to
the seen world. For example, saint’s shrines are places of ritual activities linking the sacred and the everyday life. Those participating attempt to
maintain good relationships with their saints and visitations (ziyāra) to a shrine establishes spiritual networks, not only with the saint, but also with
other visitors. Another interesting case-study concerns the place of dreams and imagination which is related to the seen and unseen dimensions of
worldviews. The author demonstrates the socio-cultural conditions that bring about support to certain dreams for constructing and understanding
reality. Certain dreams are sanctified by religious worldviews and some aspects of worldviews are validated by dreams. A conclusion is that dreams
are an integral part of his informants’ worldview, and are regarded as giving clues for understanding spiritual reality and anticipate future events,
and to glimpse the unseen, hidden reality, that is believed to influence people’s lives in everyday reality, and also