"Islamic Pilgrimage in the Middle East: An Overview," CISMOR 11: 48-65. (original) (raw)

2021, CISMOR 11: Pilgrimage Through the Ages: In Religious and Non-Religious Context

The paper explains how of the shrine of the Kaʿba became part and parcel of the monotheistic religion of Islam and walks through its rituals, as well as some of the rituals that accompanied the departing caravans and returning pilgrims. It surveys visitation (ziyāra) of places connected with the Prophet, other cities important to Islam, and tombs of earlier prophets and later religious figures, a practice that has been and still is contested among Muslim scholars, yet enjoyed great popularity, especially in Muslim societies influenced by Sufism. Some sites became the focus of annual communal celebrations known as mawālid (in honor of the anniversary of the birth/death of holy men) or mawāsim (seasonal gatherings). In the twentieth century, against the backdrop of nation-building projects and national conflicts in the Middle East, some pilgrimages became highly politicized. A couple of examples from Palestine and Israel to demonstrate this point. Sunni opponents of tomb-worship, beginning with the influential fundamentalist thinker of the early 14th century Ibn Taymiyya, blame the Shiʿis for having introduced this unwarranted "innovation" into the practice of Muslims. Some art-historians also tend to attribute to Shiʿa Islam a prominent role in the development of monumental funerary architecture, typical of pilgrimage destinations. While these conjectures are debated, there is no doubt that Shiʿi Islam encourages visits to the graves of its Imams (spiritual leaders) and martyrs as venues for devotion to the house of ʿAli, and its holy places certainly deserve special attention in the context of Islamic pilgrimage. Also worthy of attention is the phenomenon of shared sacred sites, which – despite the animosity between Sunnis and Shiʿis, and the tensions between Muslims, Christians, and Jews – drew a mixed batch of pilgrims and patrons