Before the current Syrian Uprising, the Syrian shrine of Sayyida Zaynab just South of Damascus was a popular destination for Muslims – especially Twelver Shi‘is - from all over the Middle East and South Asia. Located at the center of large markets where devotees could buy religious goods such as books and prayer beads, as well as to clothing and jewelry, the shrine attracted shoppers and pilgrims of all ages. According to Paulo Pinto (2007), pious consumption in Sayyida Zaynab helped create a feeling of communitas (cf. Victor Turner 1969). While communitas was an important aspect of pious consumerism in the shrine-town of Sayyida Zaynab, this paper argues that a closer look at the shrine and its visitors, as well as the inhabitants of the shrine-town, reveals schisms that cannot easily be subsumed under Turner’s notion. First, Twelver Shi‘i communitas was interrupted by the fact that non-Shi‘is participated in buying and selling Shi‘i religious materials. Secondly, there was an importance difference between the economic activities inside and outside of the shrine. Inside the shrine, gifting took precedence, while outside of the shrine consumerism took precedence. These practices differed not only in their intent, but also in their effects. In short, by complicating various pious ‘economic’ activities in and around the shrine, this paper not only speaks back to Pinto, but also contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the ways in which space and consumerism influence religious practices.