An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World

For the late Fuad I. Khuri, a distinguished career as an anthropologist began not because of typical concerns like accessibility, money, or status, but because the very idea of an occupation that baffled his countrymen made them—and him—laugh. “When I tell them that ‘anthropology’ is my profession . . . they think I am either speaking a strange language or referring to a new medicine.” This profound appreciation for humor, especially in the contradictions inherent in the study of cultures, is a distinctive theme of An Invitation to Laughter, Khuri’s astute memoir of life as an anthropologist in the Middle East. A Christian Lebanese, Khuri offers up in this unusual autobiography both an insider’s and an outsider’s perspective on life in Lebanon, elsewhere in the Middle East, and in West Africa. Khuri entertains and informs with clever insights into such issues as the mentality of Arabs toward women, eating habits of the Arab world, the impact of Islam on West Africa, and the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy Arabs, and even offers a vision for a type of democracy that could succeed in the Middle East. In his life and work, as these astonishing essays make evident, Khuri demonstrated how the discipline of anthropology continues to make a difference in bridging dangerous divides.

Biographies & Memoirs

Khuri, Fuad I.

Professionals & Academics

University of Chicago Press

For the late Fuad I. Khuri, a distinguished career as an anthropologist began not because of typical concerns like accessibility, money, or status, but because the very idea of an occupation that baffled his countrymen made them—and him—laugh. “When I tell them that ‘anthropology’ is my profession . . . they think I am either speaking a strange language or referring to a new medicine.” This profound appreciation for humor, especially in the contradictions inherent in the study of cultures, is a distinctive theme of An Invitation to Laughter, Khuri’s astute memoir of life as an anthropologist in the Middle East. A Christian Lebanese, Khuri offers up in this unusual autobiography both an insider’s and an outsider’s perspective on life in Lebanon, elsewhere in the Middle East, and in West Africa. Khuri entertains and informs with clever insights into such issues as the mentality of Arabs toward women, eating habits of the Arab world, the impact of Islam on West Africa, and the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy Arabs, and even offers a vision for a type of democracy that could succeed in the Middle East. In his life and work, as these astonishing essays make evident, Khuri demonstrated how the discipline of anthropology continues to make a difference in bridging dangerous divides.

Historical

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion, and Sechts in Islam

Religion & Spirituality

Al Saqi

The concept of the body is of special importance in Islamic and Arab societies as much of daily interaction between peoples in these societies is related to the strict Islamic division of the universe into different spaces; the 'feminine' and 'masculine', the 'pure' and the 'polluted', the 'private' and 'public'. This classification affects social, cultural and sexual behaviour. Consequently, the body becomes a tool used to communicate attitudes, desires, doubts and intimacy, but also to define social discourse and mores. Khuri explores the concept of the body in two phases: Firstly, the different meanings and images related to the body in Islam and how these permeate religious practices and social attitudes among people. Secondly, the numerous ways the body communicates messages, attitudes and feelings through unspoken language. His incisive exploration of how perceptions of the human body in Arab-Islamic cultures are conditioned by the teachings of the sacred text and how they translate into behavioural terms is both insightful and mind provoking.

The Body In Islamic Culture

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Saqi Books

Tents and Pyramids deals with an unusual and absorbing topic: how the Arabs see and deal with reality and the implications this has for the nature of power in the Arab world. 'Tents' and 'pyramids' are, metaphorically opposed mental images; the first signifies the absence of hierarchy and graded authority, the second the presence of both. Khuri argues that the Arabs perceive both social and physical reality as a series of discrete, non-pyramidal structures that are inherently equal in value much like a bedouin encampment composed of tents scattered haphazardly on a flat desert surface with no visible hierarchy.Authority is not built into a hierarchical arrangement where the roles are subordinated to one another in a graded system (as in the West); it is, rather, derived from the use of sheer physical power, with one person dominating the othersa first among 'equals'. Strategy, manoeuvrability and tactics take precedence over office and structure. The strategy is to act in groups; the isolated are vulnerable.There are striking parallels between these mental constructs and the behavioural patterns in Arab society, in situations ranging from backgammon to autocratic rule. The book examines the mechanisms involved in sports and card games, poetry and prose, charting genealogies and laws of inheritance, etc.Since there are no 'pyramids', there are no standardised rules of succession to high office. Government belongs to the powerful, the conquerors. And power rests in the control of solidarities, or endogamous groups, which militates against the rise of a 'public' that holds the ruler accountable for his actions. There is no public and therefore no republic. Whether 'president', 'king', 'sultan', 'imam' or 'emir', the governor always rules autocratically.

Tents and Pyramids: Games and Ideology in Arab Culture from Backgammon to Autocratic Rule

History

Middle East

Imams and Emirs is a comparative study of Islamic sects in the contemporary Arab world. It spotlights the Sunnis, Shi'as, Alawis, Druze, Ibadis, Zaidis and Yazidis. The Christian Maronites are added to this group because they share the same distinguishing features, which include geographical isolation, territorial exclusiveness, intensity of rituals and duality of religious organization. The book's unique contribution is to examine not only issues of dogma, but also the ecological, historical and structural variables that differentiate a religion from a sect and a sect from a religious community or minority. This is the first time Islamic religious communities have been placed on a single comparative scale. The book focuses on religious ideology and ulama organization. Ideology refers to the genesis and formation of the religious community; organization, to the recruitment, training and roles of the ulama (imams) in society. Whereas Sunni ideology and organization are adapted to the sovereignty of centralized authority (state, government), those of other sects are adapted to the sovereignty of the religious community. Thus Sunni ideology tends to be conformist, and that of the other sects, rebellious. Many Islamic sects began as rebellious groups and subsequently developed into stable, routine systems. Conflict and contradiction among Muslims centre around two poles: the ulama, who derive their authority from religious dogma, and the emirs and sultans who base their authority on power and coercion. In Sunni Islam, for instance, the ulama's role is subsidiary to that of the power elites, but among the Shi'a it is theulama themselves who form the power elites. After reviewing the ideological and organizational characteristics of individual sects, Khuri addresses the issue of religious change under the heading 'Brethren or Citizens'. Here, he deals with the interplay between religions, state and nationalism and discusses the contradictions between modern state structures and the Islamic umma. Already, he argues, some religious concepts are taking on nationalistic meanings.

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion and Sects in Islam

Christian Books & Bibles

Fuad Khuri’s comparative study of Islamic sects in the contemporary Arab world spotlights those that share distinguishing features like geographical isolation, intensity of rituals, and duality of religious organization. He examines not only dogma but also the variables that differentiate a religion from a sect and a sect from a religious community.

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion and Sects in Islam (Saqi Essentials)

Being a Druze

Druze Heritage Foundation

Fuad Khuri touches upon the Druze religion and how it plays a part on the lives of its adherents. Khuri describes the strong in-group feeling within the Druze, even in immigrant populations, and their deep attachment to ethnicity and unbending solidarity, always standing firmly by the power elite in times of crisis. The Druze learn their culture and associated rituals as connected with the cycle of life. 'He or she is always under the watchful eye of the community from birth until death and, then, rebirth'. In attempting to achieve divine manifestation, the Druze have developed not only a unique style of worship, but also a unique style of living and speaking, continuously practicing self-discipline, austerity and a strict behavioral code. Solidarity among the Druze is displayed through their strong belief in reincarnation and in the moderating role played by the religious sheikhs in conflict resolution. This feeling of brotherhood through reincarnation cements social relationships between people and creates equality within the community. Land to the Druze is a marker of identity: 'in order to protect your honor, you must have land and, in order to protect your land, you must have religion'.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Khuri, Fuad I.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Khuri, Fuad I.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Khuri, Fuad I.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World

An Invitation to Laughter: A Lebanese Anthropologist in the Arab World

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion, and Sechts in Islam

The Body In Islamic Culture

Tents and Pyramids: Games and Ideology in Arab Culture from Backgammon to Autocratic Rule

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion and Sects in Islam

Imams and Emirs: State, Religion and Sects in Islam (Saqi Essentials)

The Body In Islamic Culture

Being a Druze

Being a Druze