Book Talk: Religion That Matters: Shiʿi Materiality Beyond Karbala

Join ACMCU Associate Professor of Muslim Societies, Dr. Shenila Khoja-Moolji, for a book talk with Dr. Fouad Gehad Marei, Research Fellow at Lund University in Sweden. His recent publication, Religion That Matters: Shiʿi Materiality Beyond Karbala examines how material media-such as images, clothing, food, and spaces-shape somatic and visceral experiences of Shiʿi Muslim religiosity. Through twelve diverse case studies, the book engages debates in Religious Studies, Anthropology, and Cultural Heritage. It explores how materialities make the sacred tangible, foster intimate relationships, and act as gateways to the Otherworldly. Additionally, it addresses the politics of heritagization, showing how Shiʿi materialities are shaped by social and political forces. The book has been praised for its contribution to understanding the aesthetic and technical dimensions of religious experience.