Muslims and Others in Sacred Space

by Margaret Cormack

Overview

This collection of seven essays offers wide-ranging and in-depth studies of locations sacred to Muslims, of the histories of these sites (real or imagined), and of the ways in which Muslims and members of other religions have interacted peaceably in sacred times and spaces.

After a theoretical introduction by Peter Gottschalk, David Damrel discusses historic and modern controversies surrounding Muslim practices at shrines in South Asia. Lance Laird presents a case study of a shrine holy to Palestinian Christians, who identify its patron as St. George, as well as to Palestinian Muslims, who believe that its patron is al Khar/Khir. Ethel Sara Wolper illustrates how al Khir's patronage was used also to show Muslim connections to Christian sites in Anatolia, and JoAnn Gross's essay explores oral and written traditions linking shrines in Tajikistan to traditional Muslim locations and figures. A chapter by the late Thomas Sizgorich examines how Christian and Muslim authors used monastic settings to reimagine the relationship between the two religions, and Alexandra Cuffel offers a study of attitudes towards the mixing of religious groups in religious festivals in eleventh- to sixteenth-century Egypt. Eric Ross shows how the Layenne Sufi order incorporates a singular combination of Christian and Muslim figures and festivals in its history and practices.

Muslims and Others in Sacred Space will be an invaluable resource to anyone interested in the complex meanings of sacred sites in Muslim history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199925063
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	12/06/2012
Series:	AAR Religion, Culture, and History
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Margaret Cormack is Professor of Religious Studies at the College of Charleston.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgements
Contributors
Frontispiece
Introduction - Peter Gottschalk
Chapter 1, Baraka Besieged - David Damrel
Chapter 2, Boundaries and Baraka - Lance D. Laird
Chapter 3, Christmas in Cambérène, or how Muhammad Begets Jesus in Senegal - Eric Ross
Chapter 4, Environmental Disasters and Political Dominance in Shared Festivals and Intercessions among Medieval Muslims, Christians and Jews - Alexandra Cuffel
Chapter 5, Khidr and the Politics of Place - Ethel Sara Wolper
Chapter 6, Foundational Legends, Shrines, and Isma'ili Identity in Gorno-Badakhshan, Tajikistan - Jo-Ann Gross
Chapter 7, Monks and their Daughters - Thomas Sizgorich
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Not since Barbara D. Metcalf's Making Muslim Space in North America and Europe has such a bold, broad-gauged set of essays addressed the issue about what is Muslim in space occupied by Muslims and devoted to Islamic pursuits. The authors of this attractive volume range across Africa and Asia as well as the Middle East, providing insight and evoking questions that will be of interest to all engaged by the issue of sacrality from both cross-cultural and interreligious perspectives."—Bruce Lawrence, Nancy & Jeffrey Marcus Humanities Professor Emeritus and Professor of Islamic Studies, Duke University

From the Publisher