Traces of Zainab, Daughters of ‘Ali: Ritual, Memory, and Place in Shi'a Islam.

In this talk, Dr. Zaidi explores how the figure of Zainab bint ʿAli - the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter and daughter of ʿAli ibn Abu Talib - has been made, translated, and embedded across sacred geographies in Syria, Pakistan, and Iraq in the 20th century. Using the concept of the “daughter of ʿAli” as a lens, it examines how women’s bodies, real and imagined, shaped ritual, memory, sectarian identity, and sacred space in three key sites: the Sayyeda Zainab shrine in Damascus, the Bibi Pak Daman shrine in Lahore, and Al Rashād women’s prison in Iraq under Saddam Hussein. Drawing on a decade of multi-sited archival and ethnographic research, oral histories, and material culture, the book shows how women’s bodies, narratives, and devotions became central to creating and contesting sacred space and national belonging. Through shrines, prisons, and narrative imaginations, it bridges Shi‘i Studies with carceral studies and highlights women as active agents in shaping sectarian belonging, reframing Zainab not as a fixed figure but as a malleable category and translated presence. 

Dr. Noor Zehra Zaidi is an accomplished scholar whose research focuses on Shi'a history, memory, and ritual practices. She will be publishing her forthcoming monograph, Traces of Zainab, Daughter of Ali: Ritual, Memory, and Place in Shi'a Islam, a groundbreaking contribution to the study of Shi'a Islam and Islamic history. 

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This event is sponsored by the Macdonald Center and the Imam Ali Chair in Shia Studies and Dialogue Among Islamic Schools of Thought