Divine Money: Islam, Zakat, and Giving in Palestine

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Emanuel Schaeublin

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (184 p.) ill

Place of Publication:

Indiana University Press 2023

Summary:

Zakat giving or mutual aid is a sacred practice in Islam. Where government and public safety nets fail, zakat serves as a form of social security in Muslim communities. In Divine Money, Emanuel Schaeublin shows how zakat institutions and direct zakat donations function in contemporary Palestine. Based on his ethnographic fieldwork in the city of Nablus, Schaeublin traces zakat flows as they provide critical support to households living under military rule and security surveillance. In the neighborhoods of Nablus, the Islamic tradition shapes public life. Many enact simple gifts of money of food as an expression of God's generosity and justice. How do such invocations of the divine enable people to negotiate responsibilities and tensions arising from differences in wealth in Palestinian society? What is the role of zakat in confronting political repression and economic instability?

ISBN:

9780253066596

025306659X