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This pivot sets Muslim shrines within the wider context of Heritage Studies in the Muslim world and considers their role in the articulation of sacred landscapes, their function as sites of cultural memory and their links to different religious traditions. Reviewing the historiography of Muslim shrines paying attention to the different ways these places have been studied, through anthropology, archaeology, history, and religious studies, the text discusses the historical and archaeological evidence for the development of shrines in the region from pre-Islamic times up to the present day. It also assesses the significance of Muslim shrines in the modern Middle East, focusing on the diverse range of opinions and treatments from veneration to destruction, and argues that shrines have a unique social function as a means of direct contact with the past in a region where changing political configurations have often distorted conventional historical narratives.
List of contents
PART I.- Introduction; definitions, history and context.- Arabic and Muslim Historiography.- Muslim Shrines in European Descriptions of Palestine.- PART II.- Shrines Sponsored by Sultans.- Major Sufi Shrines.- Shaykh's Tombs.- Shi'a, Druze and Bahai Shrines.- PART III.- Destruction, neglect and appropriation; The demise of Muslim Shrines.- Heritage and Conservation.- Conclusions.
Report
"Bones of Contention is a concise and useful introduction to a topic that stretches from the pre-Islamic period to the present and catalogs a diverse range of religious structures. ... Bones of Contention is designed to appeal to a wide audience. It includes sketches of major shrines and photos of extant ones. It is a valuable contribution that will be of interest to students and scholars of Palestine's Islamic culture and architecture." (Awad Halabi, Journal of Palestine Studies, 2019)
