The Women of Karbala: Ritual Performance and Symbolic Discourses in Modern Shi'i IslamCommemorating the Battle of Karbala, in which the Prophet Mohammad's grandson Hosayn and seventy two of his family members and supporters were martyred in 680 CE, is the central religious observance of Shi'i Islam. Though much has been written about the rituals that reenact and venerate Karbala, until now no one has studied women's participation in these observances. This collection of original essays by a multidisciplinary team of scholars analyzes