This book explores the creation of saintly spheres surrounding Sufi masters who functioned as embodiments of Islamic sainthood and imprinted their tangible mark on the land. Situated in the Syrian milieu of the counter-crusader period that was marked by intense religious excitement and re-sanctification of the landscape, the study centres on the role of Sufi saints as revivers of the prophetic legacy and as patrons of fellow believers, and their association with the glorious history of ancient Syrian cities and the expanding sacred landscape. Based upon a variety of literary sources, including hitherto unexplored saintly vitas, the investigation aims to contribute to an understanding of the process through which the religious and charismatic leadership of the venerated shaykhs was sustained and diffused, and their holiness emplaced and commemorated.
- Front Cover
- Half-title
- Series information
- Title page
- Copyright information
- Table of contents
- Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Dates
- Introduction
- PART ONE: CHARISMATIC MASTERS IN THEIR LOCAL SETTINGS
- Chapter 1. Putting Down Roots
- Chapter 2. Sources and Displays of Spiritual and Charismatic Authority
- Piety, Asceticism, and Marvels on the Road to Sanctity
- Connection to the Prophet: Spiritual Chains, Dreams, and Visions
- Chapter 3. Sustainment of Spiritual Leadership and Loyalty: The Shaykh in the Company of his Disciples
- Venerated Masters of the Path
- Sainty Authority Sustained: The Master-Disciple Tie
- Chapter 4. Expansion of Operation: The Shaykh, the Public Sphere, and the Local Community
- Arbiters of Normative Praxis and Disseminators of True Religion
- The Story of the Christian from the Village of al-Ras (in the Beqaa Valley)
- Patron Saints and Communal Leaders
- PART TWO: EMPLACEMENTS OF AUTHORITY AND HOLINESS
- Chapter 5. The Development and Spatial Layout of Physical Settings
- A View from Damascus
- A View from Aleppo
- Chapter 6. From Dwelling Places into Saintly Dominions and Local Spaces
- The Lodge as a Space of Spiritual and Social Domination
- The Emergence of the Lodge as a Local Space
- Chapter 7. The Gravesite and the New Sacred Landscape
- The Burial Place
- Sacralization and Perpetuation
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Index
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