Pilgrimage in Islam: Traditional and Modern Practices

(Paperback)

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Description

Muslim pilgrims travel to a wide variety of places, not only the holy cities of Mecca and Karbala. Around the world there are countless sacred sites, including the graves of important historical and religious individuals, the tombs of saints, and natural sites such as mountaintops and springs. All of these places hold promise of the blessings that pilgrims often seek. Challenging the simplistic presentations of Islamic pilgrimage existent in much of the scholarship, Dr Sophia Rose Arjana explores the diverse traditions practised by the 1.7 billion Muslims across the world. Issues such as time, space, tourism, virtual pilgrimages and the use of computers and smartphone apps all come under consideration in this wide-ranging study. Lucidly written, informative and accessible, Pilgrimage in Islam is perfectly suited to students, scholars and the general reader seeking a comprehensive survey of this critical element of Islam.

Reviews

Arjana successfully negotiates among history, belief, practice, and the methodological agnosticism of religious studies to provide a fascinating guide to a vibrant and dynamic tradition. A clearlywritten work well worth reading.

* Library Journal *

Arjanas research adds new perspective to even the most prominent example of Muslim pilgrimages The writing is lucid and engaging, and the research is thorough and sensitive to complexity, such as in outlining the challenge of defining Sufism.

* Publishers Weekly, starred review *

By focusing on living traditions, Arjana helps to combat the static and old-fashioned presentations of Islam typically available. Clearly and engagingly written, this work will be of great value to students in courses in comparative religion as well as to students and scholars of Islam.

-- Theodore Vial, Professor of Theology and Modern Western Religious Thought, Iliff School of Theology

An important contribution The scope of this book, which considers Islam from a global perspective, along with its emphasis on theories of ritual and space, makes it an invaluable resource.

-- Cyrus Ali Zargar, Associate Professor of Religion, Augustana College

For those expecting another description of hajj rituals or histories, Arjanas Pilgrimage in Islam delivers a welcome surprise. It is at once theoretically sophisticated and accessible, elegant and thoughtful, appreciative of the wide variety of pilgrimage practices and impressive in its detail. Arjana has stitched us a beautiful quilt of the many ways in which Muslims have and continue to travel and visit, pray and plead, at Muslim pilgrimage sites the world over.

-- Juliane Hammer, Associate Professor and Kenan Rifai Scholar of Islamic Studies, UNC Chapel Hill

Supplementing recent scholarship on the annual hajj, Pilgrimage in Islam helps readers think more capaciously about the array ofsacred journeys Muslims have made over fourteen centuries. Sophia Arjana attends to material, textual, and technological dimensions of pilgrimage, and broadens restrictive understandingsof what it means to study Islam.

-- Kecia Ali, Professor of Religion, Boston University

Author Bio

Sophia Rose Arjana is an independent scholar who was formerly an assistant professor of Islamic studies at the University of Denver's Iliff School of Theology. She has travelled extensively in Muslim-majority countries, visiting pilgrimage sites in Iran, Turkey, Syria and elsewhere. She lives in Boulder, Colorado.