Sacred spaces fall to ruin, are replaced by new spaces or simply disappear, but the constant in today’s multicultural and pluralist Islam remains the quest for the sacred and the search for knowledge. In this distinctive and varied collection of essays edited by Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, a respected scholar of early Shi’sm at the Sorbonne, we get a panoramic view of sacred spaces in Islam, as renowned experts examine the spiritual, moral, aesthetic and even mystical powers yielded by these havens. Covering vast territories from the Maghreb to Indonesia, Africa to Central Asia and India to the Balkans, the essays highlight some of the most significant mosques, mausoleums, tombs, sanctuaries, pilgrimage sites, and theological universities within Islam. We look at such phenomena as the domes and minarets of Egypt, the Sufi pilgrimages on the Silk Road, the trail to the altar of the Nine Saints of Java and Shiite universities, all the while casting an eye towards the long and rich tradition of sacred space in Islam.

Includes a glossary, index of sacred sites, index of names and complete author biographies.