Fluid Boundaries: Christian Sacred Space and Islamic Relics in an Early Ḥadīth

A.C. Bursi

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

This article examines a hadith text that illustrates the complicated interactions between Christian and Islamic sacred spaces in the early period of Islamic rule in the Near East. In this narrative, the Prophet Muhammad gives a group of Arabs instructions for how to convert a church into a mosque, telling them to use his ablution water for cleansing and repurposing the Christian space for Muslim worship. Contextualizing this narrative in terms of early Muslim-Christian relations, as well as late antique Christian religious texts and practices, my analysis compares this story with Christian traditions regarding the collection and usage of contact relics from holy persons and places. I argue that this story offers an example of early Islamic texts' engagement with, and adaptation of, Christian literary themes and ritual practices in order to validate early Islamic religious claims.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)478-510
Number of pages33
JournalMedieval Encounters: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Culture in Confluence and Dialogue
Volume27
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The research for this article was partially funded and carried out through the ERC Consolidator Grant project "The Senses of Islam: A Cultural History of Perception in the Muslim World" (project no. 724951). Versions were presented to audiences at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta and the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Oriental Society in Boston. I am especially grateful to Eyad Abuali, Ross Brann, Arash Ghajarjazi, Kim Haines-Eitzen, Christian Lange, Simon Leese, David Powers, and the anonymous reviewers for reading and commenting upon previous drafts. All errors are my own.

Publisher Copyright:
© Adam C. Bursi, 2021.

Keywords

  • Christian-Muslim relations
  • Churches
  • Early Islam
  • Hadith
  • Mosques
  • Relics

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