In Amma's Healing Room: Gender and Vernacular Islam in South India
"This book is a compelling ethnographic study... Flueckiger's work goes a long way towards shattering the categories and fixed identities commonly associated with South Asia.... The emphasis on gender makes this work even more invaluable for anyone trying to study religion in South Asia, or indeed, Islam, as a lived experience." —South Asia Research, V.29.2 July 2009... [H]er book, like all ethnographies, should also be read between the lines—Flueckiger was concerned that by publishing her material she would bring public attention to forms of Islam criticized by other Muslims; she also analyses very sensitive dimensions of Amma’s role as a healer—notably the part she plays in Hindu-Muslim conversion processes.All in all, In Amma’s Healing Room is a well-written ethnographic study of a complex and sensitive domain of Muslim religious experience and, as such, is a very welcome addition not only to the expanding body of anthropological work on Islam as a world religion. It broadens the anthropological understanding of the various forms taken by Islamic religious authority and offers new insights into the vitality and diversity of Muslim ritual practices in South Asia.Magnus Marsden, School of Oriental and African Studies, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, March 2009"Only rarely are books powerful enough to capture the imaginations and emotions of our students: this is one such book." —Susan Snow Wadley, Syracuse University, History of Religions, Vol. 48.1 May 2009"In Amma's Healing Room is a terrific book. Well structured and well written, it will be a great addition to courses on religious ethnography, popular and contemporary Islam, South Asian religions, ritual studies, and gender studies." —the Journal of Religion, 88.2, April 2008"[I]t is extremely salubrious to see the ways Islam works in the lives of ordinary people who are not politicized in their religious lives.... No other book on South Asia has material like this." —Ann Grodzins Gold"... In Amma’s Healing Room is a well-written ethnographic study of a complex and sensitive domain of Muslim religious experience and, as such, is a very welcome addition not only to the expanding body of anthropological work on Islam as a world religion. It broadens the anthropological understanding of the various forms taken by Islamic religious authority and offers new insights into the vitality and diversity of Muslim ritual practices in South Asia." —Magnus Marsden, School of Oriental and African Studies, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol.15. 1 March 2009"... This is a timely ethnography... in a time in which the high volume of negative religious rhetoric about Islam and in the name of Islam, Hinduism, and Christianity have subsumed the centrality of love in religious teachings and rituals." —Anthropological Quarterly"This informative study is well illustrated with the author's photographs and immensely suitable for undergraduate and graduate students.... Highly recommended." —Choice