The Rise of Nasir Al-Nims

A Tribal Commentary on Being and Becoming a Shaykh

Datos Bibliográficos

ID11623583
AutoresAndrew Shryock (autor de correspondencia), Andrew J Shryock
Año1990
Volumen46
Número2
Páginas153-176
Fecha de publicación1990-07-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
EditorialUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/jar.46.2.3630070
OpenAlexW2326215096
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas10

This article examines local conceptions of shaykhly authority among Near Eastern tribes-people. Special attention is given to the personal history of Nasir al-Nims, a shaykh of the Murad tribe in North Yemen. The story of Nasir's rise to prominence, told by his grandson, is recounted and analyzed. A close study of this narrative reveals (1) patterns which recur frequently in the lives of shaykhs, (2) the structural conditions in which shaykhs of a certain kind emerge, and (3) a way of talking about authority and leadership in an egalitarian society which views both with ambivalence. It is argued that shaykhly authority will be better understood when tribal narrative and other forms of local expression are more fully incorporated in anthropological discourse

Ambivalence · Art · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Sociology · Tribe · History · Islamic Studies and History · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Law · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Psychology · Social Psychology