Abstract

This book presents a study of the cult of saints among Muslims and Jews in medieval Syria and the Near East. Through case studies of saints and their devotees, discussion of the architecture of monuments, examination of devotional objects, and analysis of ideas of ‘holiness’, the book depicts the practices of living religion and explores the common heritage of all three monotheistic faiths. Critical readings of a wide range of contemporary sources — travel writing, geographical works, pilgrimage guides, legal writings, historical sources, hagiography, and biography — reveal a vibrant religious culture in which the veneration of saints and pilgrimage to tombs and shrines were fundamental.