Experiencing the Holy: Sacred Ritual and Pilgrimage

This chapter discusses pilgrimage and the ziyāra in the Islamic context. It looks at the culture of devotion, of which pilgrimage and saint veneration were an integral part. For many, participating in the veneration of saints was a form of remembering God, the dead, the Hereafter, and one's religious duties. The discussion explores the nature of Syrian, Egyptian, and Shi'i pilgrimage guides and literature, as well as the lives of devotees, the rituals they performed, and the value with which they invested the ziyāra. Jews and Muslims performed the rite annually during holy days when the shrine was most likely to produce miracles. However, for some Muslim and Jewish theologians, the performance of ziyāra rituals at saints' tombs was contentious and regarded as idolatry and heretical innovation.