In the Vicinity of the Righteous: Ziyara and the Veneration of Muslim Saints in Late Medieval Egypt

An in-depth scholarly study of the institution of ziyara (visiting tombs), and its central role in the cult of Muslim saints in late medieval Egypt (1200-1500 A.D.), this text aims to contribute to the study of the social history of religion. It explores the range of meanings that saints held for the contemporary imagination through richly-textured descriptions and analysis of the great cemetery of al-Qarafa, the rituals of the ziyara, and the entertaining stories told to pious visitors about the saints. It thus provides a sense of the expression of Muslim spirituality. Through an examination of legal debates surrounding ziyara, the dichomotous view of high versus popular religion is effectively challenged in favour of a more fluid model of cultural discourse.