Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine

This paper explores recent transformations in Islamic pilgrimage patterns in Israel/Palestine. The meanings assigned to traditional Muslim sites, and the conduct and practices of the dwindling number of pilgrims who visit them, are the struggling victims of strategic socio-political erasures caused...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Nimrod Luz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-08-01
Series:Religions
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1043
_version_ 1827728746575036416
author Nimrod Luz
author_facet Nimrod Luz
author_sort Nimrod Luz
collection DOAJ
description This paper explores recent transformations in Islamic pilgrimage patterns in Israel/Palestine. The meanings assigned to traditional Muslim sites, and the conduct and practices of the dwindling number of pilgrims who visit them, are the struggling victims of strategic socio-political erasures caused by dramatic geo-political changes. Since 1948, the hegemony of the State of Israel has perversely politicized sacred Islamic sites beyond their traditional religious functions. Muslim pilgrims, for their part, engage in rituals that have become a counterweight to Israeli ethnocratic imperatives. The reconstruction of an Islamic pilgrimage map presents a shared imaginative landscape as <i>lieux de mémoire</i> that undergird political and social resistance. The dogged survival of Islamic pilgrimage comprises a counterweight to state power. Muslims fight to affirm Palestinian identity, reclaim heritage spaces as anchors for identity, and actively engage with land claiming.
first_indexed 2024-03-10T23:37:16Z
format Article
id doaj.art-1b77595eeebc4252a2a61ab47c42f389
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2077-1444
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-10T23:37:16Z
publishDate 2023-08-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Religions
spelling doaj.art-1b77595eeebc4252a2a61ab47c42f3892023-11-19T02:51:28ZengMDPI AGReligions2077-14442023-08-01148104310.3390/rel14081043Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/PalestineNimrod Luz0Department of Land of Israel Studies, Kinneret College on the Sea of Galilee, Tzemach 1513200, IsraelThis paper explores recent transformations in Islamic pilgrimage patterns in Israel/Palestine. The meanings assigned to traditional Muslim sites, and the conduct and practices of the dwindling number of pilgrims who visit them, are the struggling victims of strategic socio-political erasures caused by dramatic geo-political changes. Since 1948, the hegemony of the State of Israel has perversely politicized sacred Islamic sites beyond their traditional religious functions. Muslim pilgrims, for their part, engage in rituals that have become a counterweight to Israeli ethnocratic imperatives. The reconstruction of an Islamic pilgrimage map presents a shared imaginative landscape as <i>lieux de mémoire</i> that undergird political and social resistance. The dogged survival of Islamic pilgrimage comprises a counterweight to state power. Muslims fight to affirm Palestinian identity, reclaim heritage spaces as anchors for identity, and actively engage with land claiming.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1043Islamic pilgrimageethnocracyhegemonyresistance<i>lieux de mémoire</i>politics of place
spellingShingle Nimrod Luz
Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
Religions
Islamic pilgrimage
ethnocracy
hegemony
resistance
<i>lieux de mémoire</i>
politics of place
title Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
title_full Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
title_fullStr Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
title_full_unstemmed Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
title_short Transformations in Islamic Pilgrimage Patterns and Meanings: Piety, Politics, Resistance, and Places of Memory in Islamic Pilgrimage Sites in Israel/Palestine
title_sort transformations in islamic pilgrimage patterns and meanings piety politics resistance and places of memory in islamic pilgrimage sites in israel palestine
topic Islamic pilgrimage
ethnocracy
hegemony
resistance
<i>lieux de mémoire</i>
politics of place
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/14/8/1043
work_keys_str_mv AT nimrodluz transformationsinislamicpilgrimagepatternsandmeaningspietypoliticsresistanceandplacesofmemoryinislamicpilgrimagesitesinisraelpalestine