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Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and...
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Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Health/Psychology/Social Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 June 2023) | Viewed by 14203

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Javier Albarrán

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Departamento de Historia Antigua, Medieval y Paleografía y Diplomática, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
Interests: medieval and early modern Islamic history; Al-Andalus and the Maghreb; historical consciousness; interreligious contacts; military history; history of holy war and jihad; sacred topography; legitimation of power
Dr. Antonia Bosanquet

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Humanities, Asia-Africa-Institute, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany
Interests: early Islamic North Africa; Muslim-non-Muslim relations in legal discourse; trade networks in the Islamic West; sacred topography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The proposed volume will focus on social-cultural practices that were used to assert or increase the sacral significance of a particular space. The term practice is used here to refer to rituals, particularly the visual, audible and olfactory impact of these on their surroundings, and to the commemoration of persons and deeds through material culture, literature and liturgy. Rather than the legend, person or act to which the sacrality of a place is “attributed”, the articles in this volume will analyze what processes contributed to the creation of sacrality and how these invoked the attention of participants. For example, how was the construction of a shrine over the grave of an Islamic martyr or religious scholar related to procession or visitation rituals to this shrine and what material, sensory or intellectual devices were drawn on to heighten the religious significance of the rituals and the shrine?

The geographical scope will encompass urban spaces broadly within the Islamicate West (defined here as extending from today’s Libya to the Atlantic and the Iberian Peninsula). The historical focus will be the early Islamic period and the period of late Antiquity preceding and overlapping this. The purpose of this Special Issue is to bring new insights to the study of sacrality and topography by examining how the process of imbuing a space with religious significance interacted with existing memories of sacrality, as well as notions of divine choice that were associated specifically with the religious tradition in question.

The focus on the single geographical region of the Islamic West, across two contingent historical “periods” comprises the analytical framework for this research purpose because it allows direct comparison between traditions and notions, as well as an understanding of how the memory of sacrality influenced later developments of this notion. Existing studies of topography and sacrality (e.g., Hamilton and Spicer, 2005) tend to focus on a single religious tradition, without taking into account how later religious traditions built on the memories that already adhered to the land and landscape. The Islamic West is a particularly suitable focus for this comparative framework, as the religious traditions of Islam, Christianity and Judaism continued to interact with one another even after the Muslim conquests led to Islam acquiring political dominance in the region. The focus on how sacrality was affirmed within competing traditions will also enable the contributors to relate the construction of sacred space to inter-religious relations and to boundaries between believers. How far did the process of creating a religious topography relate to claims of ownership, domination, or of the appropriation of space? As Shira Lander has noted in relation to late Roman North Africa, sacred places served as a symbolic arena in which to generate and perform power, display shifting identities and create social cohesion. The articles in this special edition will build on findings of space and sacrality with respect to both the early Islamic (eg. Stephanie Mulder, Harry Munt, Simon O’Meara, Jacob Lassner, Michael Ehrlich et. al) and late Antique (e.g., Yvette Duval, Peter Brown, Robert A. Markus, Béatrice Caseau, Shira Lander et. al) period, bringing them together through the relation of both to a single geographical space and a specific urban landscape.

Dr. Javier Albarrán
Dr. Antonia Bosanquet
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • sacred space
  • Islamization
  • Christianization
  • religious landscape
  • sacred topography
  • sacralization

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

26 pages, 4515 KiB  
Article
Ribāṭ in the Furthermost Coasts of Early Al-Andalus
by Joan Negre
Religions 2024, 15(1), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel15010124 - 18 Jan 2024
Viewed by 2313
Abstract
In recent decades, the concept of ribāṭ and its practice have been the subject of intense debate. Recent summary papers on the eastern Mediterranean, Ifrīqiya, al-Maghrib al-Aqṣà, and al-Andalus, among others, have made it possible to compare different realities that express strong links [...] Read more.
In recent decades, the concept of ribāṭ and its practice have been the subject of intense debate. Recent summary papers on the eastern Mediterranean, Ifrīqiya, al-Maghrib al-Aqṣà, and al-Andalus, among others, have made it possible to compare different realities that express strong links with their local historical contexts. In this paper, we present the results of a new study that analyses the specific case of Northern Sharq al-Andalus, where the practice and institutionalisation of ribāṭ took shape from the early 9th century. There are three elements that lead us to corroborate this hypothesis: the documented presence of numerous individuals and groups voluntarily involved in the active and passive defence of the furthermost frontier of al-Andalus; the confirmation of a construction programme with homogeneous characteristics aimed at building fortified enclosures along the coast, and, lastly, the founding, in the early 9th century, of the Ribāṭ Kashkī centre at the mouth of the Ebro, a building were these practices would become centralised. In conclusion, we propose a much more complex scenario than that proposed previously, which enables us to characterise local forms of armed spirituality and sacralisation of the land that globally enriches the historical reading of ribāṭ. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
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18 pages, 8910 KiB  
Article
Religious Buildings in Early al-Andalus: Origins, Consolidation and Prevalence in Urban Contexts
by Carmen González-Gutiérrez
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1375; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111375 - 31 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1170
Abstract
The arrival of Islam to the Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the 8th c. brought important changes to the urbanism of cities which contributed to turn the previous late-antique realities into medieval Islamic settlements. Among all the transformations that took place, the [...] Read more.
The arrival of Islam to the Iberian Peninsula at the beginning of the 8th c. brought important changes to the urbanism of cities which contributed to turn the previous late-antique realities into medieval Islamic settlements. Among all the transformations that took place, the introduction of mosques and the reconfiguration of cities’ religioscapes is one of the most relevant. The processes through which the earliest mosques were first inserted in urban landscapes in al-Andalus are unclear, since so far there are no remains that can be undoubtedly dated before the Umayyad period. From that moment on, and alongside the Umayyad organization of the Andalusi state, the founding of mosques becomes clearer and traceable, and their urban, religious and political roles more evident. This contribution seeks to identify how and why mosques appeared in the Iberian Peninsula, how they (re)configured religious spaces in cities, and how they contributed to consolidate their significance through specific written and architectural narratives. This topic will be explored also seeking for parallels and connections in the Bilād al-Shām region. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
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17 pages, 602 KiB  
Article
What Should They Do? Depictions of Ribāṭ and Murābiṭūn in Early Islamic Ifrīqiya
by Antonia Sigrid Bosanquet
Religions 2023, 14(11), 1340; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14111340 - 24 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 851
Abstract
What was ribāṭ in early Islamic Ifrīqiya and what was its primary function? The answer often differs depending on the sources that are used, and whether they focus on the building or the institution more generally. Rather than approaching the question through either [...] Read more.
What was ribāṭ in early Islamic Ifrīqiya and what was its primary function? The answer often differs depending on the sources that are used, and whether they focus on the building or the institution more generally. Rather than approaching the question through either of these aspects, this study will consider the expectations, reflected in textual sources, about the behavior of the murābiṭūn, or the men who inhabited them. Analyzing expectations about the character of the murābiṭūn and the activities carried out in the ribāṭ offers an insight into how the writer of the text viewed the institution, including its function and significance in early Islamic society. By comparing the expectations reflected in various texts, it is also possible to recognize different views of the ribāṭ building and institution and to relate these to the historical context or the perspective of the writer. The analysis in this study will focus on the ribāṭ in the Ifrīqiyan tradition but will relate some of the developments to the significance of the institution in the wider Islamic Empire and its intellectual tradition. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
14 pages, 333 KiB  
Article
Stratigraphy Matters: Questioning the (Re)Sacralisation of Religious Spaces from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages in the Iberian Peninsula
by María de los Ángeles Utrero Agudo
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1199; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091199 - 19 Sep 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1131
Abstract
In recent decades, archaeological and written records have been used in combination to improve our understanding of Late Antique and Early Medieval Hispanic architectural culture (5th–10th c.). Within this renewed research context, the rebuilding of Late Antique churches and the reuse of earlier [...] Read more.
In recent decades, archaeological and written records have been used in combination to improve our understanding of Late Antique and Early Medieval Hispanic architectural culture (5th–10th c.). Within this renewed research context, the rebuilding of Late Antique churches and the reuse of earlier materials in both Early Medieval Christian and Islamic religious buildings; the transformation of Late Antique churches into early Islamic mosques in al-Andalus; and the rebuilding of other churches by the Christians themselves, both in al-Andalus and in the northern Iberian plateau, from the late 8th century onwards, have often been used to thread narratives concerning tradition, continuity, and re-sacralisation of earlier religious architectural spaces and, through this, religious change in the middle ages. However, the application of modern archaeological methodology reveals that these processes need to be qualified, for the stratigraphic gaps between building phases make them sometimes hard to interpret. By analysing some examples of Hispanic religious sites, this paper reflects on the many concepts related to sacralisation, explains the way archaeology is able to trace the sacralisation processes, and intends thus to highlight the complexity of these phenomena. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
22 pages, 2476 KiB  
Article
Shaping Urban Religious Topography in the Iberian Peninsula between the Fourth and Sixth Centuries: “Coopetitive” Rivalry and Social Power
by José Carlos López-Gómez
Religions 2023, 14(9), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14091124 - 31 Aug 2023
Viewed by 738
Abstract
This study analyses the reshaping of the religious landscape of the cities of Hispania, from the disappearance of polytheistic sanctuaries to the construction of Christian churches, from the fourth to the middle of the sixth centuries CE. The focus is placed on the [...] Read more.
This study analyses the reshaping of the religious landscape of the cities of Hispania, from the disappearance of polytheistic sanctuaries to the construction of Christian churches, from the fourth to the middle of the sixth centuries CE. The focus is placed on the agents who financed these complexes and the motivations behind their euergetic activities. The study highlights that the configuration of places of worship in the urban landscape was a contingent process often dependent on individual (layperson) initiative, challenging the widespread assumption that the Church and its bishops were the main promoters of urban redevelopment in Hispanic cities during this period. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
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19 pages, 1672 KiB  
Article
Ribât in Early Islamic Ifrîqiya: Another Islam from the Edge
by Jean-Pierre Van Staëvel
Religions 2023, 14(8), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14081051 - 17 Aug 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1310
Abstract
After a difficult conquest under the Umayyads, the eastern Maghreb or Ifrîqiya region was turned into the western borderland of the Abbasid Empire in the second half of the 8th century, and its governance was soon delegated to the Aghlabid Emirate (800–909). In [...] Read more.
After a difficult conquest under the Umayyads, the eastern Maghreb or Ifrîqiya region was turned into the western borderland of the Abbasid Empire in the second half of the 8th century, and its governance was soon delegated to the Aghlabid Emirate (800–909). In this context, the Sahel (or Ifriqîyan coastline) quickly became a major centre of asceticism and pious collective retreat in places dedicated to ribât activities. This practice provided a framework for the life of devout people who kept a watchful eye on the Byzantine enemy while zealously performing their devotions. A genuine frontier society of religious men and devotees, ascetics and traditionalists arose in this burgeoning coastal fringe. Over the last two decades, this topic has given rise to a very rich historiography, notably produced by Tunisian researchers who have profoundly renewed our understanding. Based on these considerable achievements, the present contribution proposes to broaden the analysis in order to show how the rise of this movement of warrior piety, advocating an ideal of jihâd, must be related to a more global phenomenon, considered at the scale of the Abbasid Empire. Remaining in a comparative dimension, this article also proposes several approaches to the specific architecture of ribât sites, especially the place devoted to the community mosque. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
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15 pages, 393 KiB  
Article
‘And He Transformed Their Temple into a Church’: The Redefinition of Sacred Spaces in Libya in Late Antiquity
by Esther Sánchez Medina
Religions 2023, 14(7), 845; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14070845 - 27 Jun 2023
Viewed by 934
Abstract
The aim of studying the context in which churches were built in honour of the Theotokos or dedicated to her in North Africa, as well as in the rest of the Empire, during the sixth century, is to gain a more thorough understanding [...] Read more.
The aim of studying the context in which churches were built in honour of the Theotokos or dedicated to her in North Africa, as well as in the rest of the Empire, during the sixth century, is to gain a more thorough understanding of Justinian I’s political programme, the utility of unifying dogma and the religious conversion of dissident elements, such as pagans, Jews, Samaritans etc. These issues are addressed by analysing the spatial—principally architectural—and rhetorical superposition of Orthodox Christianity on the places of worship of other communities. It is held here that it is possible to demonstrate that this redefinition of space went a long way towards reinforcing the identity of provincial populations, especially in conflictive or border areas, which had to be secured within the territories that the Byzantine Empire had recently recovered so as to guarantee their political loyalty. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
16 pages, 432 KiB  
Article
This Is Your Miḥrāb: Sacred Spaces and Power in Early Islamic North Africa—Al-Qayrawān as a Case Study
by Javier Albarrán
Religions 2023, 14(5), 674; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050674 - 19 May 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1389
Abstract
Al-Qayrawān has long been figured, especially in the culture of the Islamic West, as the Islamic city par excellence, as the fourth sacred place after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The prominence of this garrison city—supposedly founded by ‘Uqba b. Nāfi‘ in the year [...] Read more.
Al-Qayrawān has long been figured, especially in the culture of the Islamic West, as the Islamic city par excellence, as the fourth sacred place after Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem. The prominence of this garrison city—supposedly founded by ‘Uqba b. Nāfi‘ in the year 50/670–671—is undeniable in the traditional account of the Islamic conquest of Ifrīqiyya. Through a case study of al-Qayrawān and an analysis of the sources recounting its miraculous foundation as well as the construction of its mosque, this article aims to study the process of sacralisation of space, how this is inserted into a given context and related to power and its consolidation, particularly in times of political, cultural, and religious transition, and how it uses, appropriates, or eliminates the previous reality. To this end, the article provides a context for the creation of al-Qayrawān as a sacred space, which relates directly to the region’s Christian past and the construction of a new Islamic identity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
12 pages, 259 KiB  
Article
The Long Ninth Century: Christian Reactions to Islamization and Islamication in Palestine and Al-Andalus
by Michael Ehrlich
Religions 2023, 14(5), 667; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050667 - 17 May 2023
Viewed by 1404
Abstract
Christian communities in Palestine and Al-Andalus faced similar challenges during the ninth century. Although Muslim authorities tolerated Christianity and enshrined a certain degree of religious freedom, they downgraded these communities and encouraged conversion to Islam. In the long span, Christian communities decreased because [...] Read more.
Christian communities in Palestine and Al-Andalus faced similar challenges during the ninth century. Although Muslim authorities tolerated Christianity and enshrined a certain degree of religious freedom, they downgraded these communities and encouraged conversion to Islam. In the long span, Christian communities decreased because many of their leading members emigrated or converted. Moreover, many of those that remained adopted the Arabic language, dressed like Muslims, and became increasingly assimilated into the ruling elite Muslim culture. This article suggests that the contacts and reciprocal influence between Christian communities from Palestine and Spain during this period were more substantial than hitherto perceived. Thus, they used the same methods with some local adaptations to tackle their critical situation. They introduced a growing use of Arabic in religious life, established and upgraded important pilgrimage shrines, and some extremist monastic communities fostered and encouraged martyrdom. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
13 pages, 341 KiB  
Article
Making loca sacra in Visigothic Iberia: The Case of Churches
by Pablo Poveda Arias
Religions 2023, 14(5), 664; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14050664 - 16 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1346
Abstract
Curiously, we have no previous studies that deal monographically with the question of the sacralisation of spaces in Visigoth Iberia. It is intended in the following pages to fill this historiographical gap by focusing on the particular case of the churches. By means [...] Read more.
Curiously, we have no previous studies that deal monographically with the question of the sacralisation of spaces in Visigoth Iberia. It is intended in the following pages to fill this historiographical gap by focusing on the particular case of the churches. By means of the compilation and exhaustive analysis of all the available documentary sources, particularly the available conciliar canons, it is aimed to identify the different prescriptions and strategies that were used to sacralise new places of worship in Iberia during the Visigothic period. Particular emphasis will be placed on ritual procedures, which are mandatory for the consecration of any church, but also on material and sensorial factors as complementary determinants in the definition of sacred space. The final result obtained provides us with a reality dominated by a heterogeneity of situations that were sometimes far from conforming to the reality desired by canon law. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Continuing Tradition? Sacralization Practices in the Early Islamicate West and the Influence of Late Antiquity)
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