This thesis is based upon ethnographic fieldwork on the process of becoming married in Cairo. It focuses specifically upon the experiences of Cairene Muslims, and centres on the profound sense of anxiety and uncertainty which so frequently surrounds the marriage-making process. This thesis is an attempt to make sense of the salience of these emotions, against a backdrop of economic and political instability, a broader interest in modesty and decorum, and public concern about an alleged ‘marriage crisis’. It also explores the various ways in which prospective affines seek to manage the pervasive sense of anxiety and uncertainty associated with the production of marriage in Cairo. To this end, the thesis examines the ways in which phenomena, ranging from assessments about the ‘suitability’ of a given conjugal home to the perceived outcome of a particular form of petitionary prayer, enter into decisions about whom to marry and come to affect confidence in a given choice. The thesis thus presents a complex picture of the agency of prospective affines, and pays particular attention to the relationship between agency and knowledge.

Background: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is a common disorder in which the main symptoms are abdominal pain or discomfort combined with diarrhoea and/or constipation. Personal petitionary prayer – asking God for help and support when facing problems in life – is among the most common forms of prayer and can be viewed as a coping strategy when managing health problems. Previous research on the effects of personal petitionary prayer has showed conflicting findings and there are indications that prayer can be associated with more problems when facing stressful somatic problems such as chronic pain in Swedish settings rather than the opposite and expected benefits from praying. The present master-thesis was informed by the coping theory by Lazarus and Folkman (1984) and a theoretical perspective of prayer as a religious coping strategy. Aims: The aim was to investigate associations between personal petitionary prayer as a coping strategy and IBS symptoms, quality of life and anxiety. A second aim was to investigate if use of prayer would change 10 weeks later and if IBS symptoms at baseline could predict prayer assessed 10 weeks later.   Methods: The data in this master-thesis were collected in association with a treatment trial on internet-delivered cognitive behaviour therapy for IBS (Ljótsson et al., 2010). Data were derived from all 85 self-selected participants who had been included in the treatment trial. The three-item self-report measure of prayer which is  part of  the Coping Strategies Questionnaire for pain was used. I also included data on self-report measures of IBS symptoms and IBS-related quality of life and anxiety, and finally a measure of symptoms of depression. The sample included were mainly women (85%), with some form of higher education (64%) and finally fairly young (Mean age 34.6 years). Data on prayer have not been published before. 10 week follow-up data were available for 37 participants.  Results: Statistically significant cross-sectional correlations were found between the prayer scale score and IBS-related quality of life (r =-.44, p<.01) and with gastrointestinal symptom-specific anxiety (r=.42, p<.01), which indicates that more use of prayer is associated with  lower quality of life and more anxiety symptoms. Regression analyses entering prayer in competition with the other variables as predictors showed that prayer was more consistently associated with IBS-related quality of life which also predicted prayer. Use of prayer did not change over the 10-week period and prayer at 10 weeks could not be predicted. Interpretation: In line with some previous research personal petitionary prayer can be associated with more rather than less problems with health. It is important to note that personal prayer is one form of prayer and that long term effects may show different results. Finally, the role of religious affiliation and cultural aspects need to be considered in future research.