Negotiating Cure
Blindness, Spiritual Healing, and Biomedical Modernity in 1960s Egypt
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24243085 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Ibrahim Emara (0000-0003-3863-0983, Tanta University) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-28 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Disability & Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2331-2521 • E-ISSN: 2331-253X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23312521.2026.2737629 |
| OpenAlex | W7224106004 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 46 |
This study employs discourse analysis to examine the representation of blindness and healing in the 1968 Egyptian film Kandil Om Hashem. The film dramatizes the cultural practice of seeking cures for visual impairment through the blessings (baraka) of religious shrines, positioning this faith-based approach in direct conflict with scientific treatment. Moving beyond a purely medical model, the analysis reveals how the film constructs blindness as a culturally embedded experience in which societal beliefs and traditions shape perceptions of the body, disability, and cure. I argue that the central narrative tension between theological and scientific paradigms reflects a broader socio-cultural negotiation of modernity in 1960s Egypt, particularly among marginalized communities for whom spiritual practices offered accessible and culturally legitimate healing. Framed by Modernization Theory and the biopsychosocial model of disability, the analysis contributes to interdisciplinary conversations on disability studies in non-Western contexts and the enduring role of cultural belief systems in modern health.
barakah · biopsychosocial model of disability · Blindness · Disability studies · Egyptian cinema · marginalized communities · Modernization theory · religion and medicine · religious shrines · Spiritual healing · Visual impairment · Disability Rights and Representation · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Medicine, History, and Philosophy
An Introduction to Discourse Analysis
Muslims with Disabilities
Praise and Thanks be to God
Disability in Islam
Noor Einy Movie
The Impact of Religio-Cultural Beliefs and Superstitions in Shaping the Understanding of Mental Disorders and Mental Health Treatment among Arab Muslims
Causes and Means of Healing
Impact of Quran in Treatment of the Psychological Disorder and Spiritual Illness
The Dark Side of Prayer for Healing
The Sociology of Modernization and Development
Role of traditional healers in the pathway to care of patients with bipolar disorder in Egypt
Latin America at a Crossroads
Islam and the cultural conceptualisation of disability
Charlatans and Fraudsters
Disability on Arab screens
A faith in humanness
One Face of the Hero
Causes and Consequences of Inequality in Egypt
Devotion to the Prophet and His Family in Egyptian Sufism
Physical and Spiritual Treatment of Disability in Islam
Disability in the Islamic Tradition
Lives at Risk
Exploring Islamic Spiritual Care
Death, Resurrection, and Shrine Visitations
Evaluation of Qualitative Data Analysis Software by a Visually Impaired Researcher
| Highly cited | No |
|---|