Kabsa (a.k.a. mushāhara) and threatened fertility in Egypt

Abstract

Among the urban and rural poor of Egypt, female infertility is often attributed to kabsa (also known as mushāhara), a form of ‘boundary-crossing’ by symbolically polluted individuals into the rooms of reproductively vulnerable women. When kabsa occurs, it causes the ‘binding’ of women's reproductive bodies, threatening their future fertility, their husband's virile procreativity, and, ultimately, the social reproduction of Egyptian society at large. Because kabsa is viewed as the leading cause of female infertility—an extremely socially stigmatizing condition in Egypt—it is greatly feared by women. This paper examines kabsa beliefs and practices in Lower Egypt in terms of the ritual process and reproductive rites of passage for women in particular. Major features of kabsa are analyzed, and kabsa preventive and therapeutic rituals of depolluting consubstantiality (i.e. sharing of substance) are examined in detail. The paper concludes with an analysis of reproductive ‘threat,’ exploring why Egyptians perceive kabsa and other forms of reproductive hindrance—including neocolonially inspired family planning campaigns—as dangers to the individual, social, and political bodies.