Islamic piety in medieval Syria : mosques, cemeteries and sermons under the Zangids and Ayyūbids (1146-1260) / / by Daniella Talmon-Heller.

• Superior document: Jerusalem studies in religion and culture, v. 7
• Author: Talmon-Heller, Daniella
• Year of Publication: 2007
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Jerusalem studies in religion and culture ; v. 7.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (324 p.)
• Notes: Extensively revised and expanded edition of the author's Hebrew Ph. D. thesis entitled: Dat ṿe-ḥevrah be-Suryah mi-Nur Aldin ṿe-ʻad la-kibush ha-Mongoli (1154-1260).

A study of religious thought and practice across a broad social spectrum, but within a well-defined historical context, this book is an interdisciplinary endeavor that incorporates the tools of philology, social-history and historical-anthropology. Focusing on the mosques, public assemblies, cemeteries and shrines of Syrian Muslims in the period of the crusades and the anti-Frankish jihad, the book describes and deciphers religious rites and experiences, liturgical calendars, spiritual leadership, and perceptions of impiety and dissent. Working from a perspective that breaks down the dichotomization of religion into 'official' and 'popular,' it exposes the negotiation, construction and dissemination of hybrid forms of religious life. The result is an intimate and complex presentation of the texture of medieval Islamic piety.

Table of Contents

Mosques in society -- Society in mosques -- Preachers (khaṭībs) and prayer leaders (imāms) -- The assembly of exhortation (majlis al-waʻẓ) -- The cemetery -- Shrines (mashhads and maqāmāt) -- Piety -- Impiety and religious dissent.