Ahmed al-Rahim

The proposed research initiative examines the diversity of nonverbal communication (NVC) within Islamic societies from late antiquity to the sixteenth century (AD). In taking a comprehensive approach to NVC, the initiative aims to show how body language, gestures, visual, auditory, and facial expressions, as well as costume and attire intersect, thus creating a multifaceted realm of NVC within Islamic societies.

Despite the wealth of extant NVC material in the oral and literary Arabic tradition of Medieval and Early Modern Islamic Societies, the field of Arabic and Islamic studies has not yet established gesture studies as a stand-alone discipline. This desideratum is especially evident when comparing studies of gestures in this field with those of other disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, folklore, classical studies, literary theory, and Jewish studies.

The proposed project plans to bridge this divide by establishing an interdisciplinary research group focusing on NVC in the regions of the Middle East and North Africa from late antiquity to the sixteenth century (CE). By convening an international and interdisciplinary team, our research seeks to explore the various and intersecting facets of NVC in the Islamic tradition. Key inquiries include examining the Arabic nomenclature, typologies, and histories of NVC in the Qurʾān and its exegetical tradition (tafsīr), ḥadīth, Arabic literature and poetry, Islamic law, interfaith history, and court culture.