Description
Book SynopsisSaintly Spheres and Islamic Landscapes explores the creation, expansion, and perpetuation of the material and imaginary spheres of spiritual domination and sanctity that surrounded Sufi saints and became central to religious authority, Islamic piety, and the belief in the miraculous. The cultural and social constructs of Islamic sainthood and the spatial inscription of saintly figures have fascinated and ignited scholars across a range of disciplines. By bringing together a broad scope of perspectives and case studies, this book offers the reader the first comprehensive, albeit variegated, exposition of the evolution of saintly spheres and the emplacements of spiritual power in the Muslim world across time and place. Contributors: Angela Andersen, Irit Back, Devin DeWeese, Daphna Ephrat, Jo-Ann Gross, Nathan Hofer, Ayfer Karakaya-Stump, Sara Kuehn, Bulle Tuil Leonetti, Silvia Montenegro, Alexandre Papas, Paulo G. Pinto, Fatima Quraishi, Eric Ross, Itzchak Weismann, Pnina Werber, and Ethel Sara Wolper.
Table of ContentsList of Figures and Maps A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Translation Introduction PART 1: Creation and Revitalization 1 The Creation of Spheres of Spiritual Domination and Sanctity in Medieval Syrian Landscapes: Hagiographical Narratives and Historical Legacies Daphna Ephrat 2 The Creation and Institutionalization of the Sufi Landscape in Medieval Upper Egypt Nathan Hofer 3 The Cult of Saints and Shrine Architecture: The Making of Funeral Centers of Devotion in the Medieval Muslim West Bulle Tuil Leonetti 4 A Saint “On the Move”: Traces in the Evolution of a Landscape of Religious Memory in the Balkans Sara Kuehn 5 The “Shrinescapes” and Narrative Traditions of Khoja Ishaq Khuttalani Jo-Ann Gross 6 Encountering Saints in the Hallowed Ground of a Regional Landscape: The ‘Description of Khwārazm’ and the Experience of Pilgrimage in Nineteenth-Century Central Asia Devin DeWeese PART 2: Spatial Formation and the Power of Place 7 Sufi Buildings and Networks of Authority in Medieval Anatolia Ethel Sara Wolper 8 Situating Iraqi Shrine Cities within the Alevi-Bektashi Sacred Landscape: Networks of Saintly Families Linking Anatolia to Karbala and Najaf in the Ottoman Era Ayfer Karakaya-Stump 9 “This is Makkah for Me!” Devotion in Architecture at the Makli Necropolis Fatima Quraishi 10 “He who is the wondrous green dome is Ali”: The Relationship between Narratives of the Prophet Muhammad’s Ascension and the Communal Religious Architecture of the Alevis Angela Andersen 11 Bombay Mystical City: Muslim Shrines and Saints in the Urban Fabric from 1800 to Present Alexandre Papas 12 Senegal’s Sufi Cities: Places beyond the State Eric Ross PART 3: Transformation and Globalization 13 Shifting Spheres along the Hajj Route from West Africa: The Case of the Tijaniyya during the Colonial Period Irit Back 14 The Entire Land is My Lodge: Naqshbandi Responses to the Challenges of Modernity and Globalization Itzchak Weismann 15 Charisma’s Reach: Spiritual Travel and Material Flows in a Sufi Saint’s Wilayat Pnina Werbner 16 “Diasporizing” Sainthood: Shaykh Ahmed, a Syrian ʿAlawi Saint in Argentina Silvia Montenegro 17 Territories of Memory: Ritual and Dreams in the Making of a Contemporary Syrian Saint Paulo G. Pinto Index
