[CIS 5.2 (2009) 221-245] Comparative Islamic Studies (print) ISSN 1740-7125
doi: 10.1558/cis.v5i2.221 Comparative Islamic Studies (online) ISSN 1743-1638
Angels, Ritual and Sacred Space in Islam
S. R. Bürge
institute oflsmaili Studies, London
SBurge@iis.ac.uk
ABSTRACT
The idea of "sacred space" has been discussed frequently in the
study of religion, both the ways in which faith communities engage
with sacred space, as well as how different religions define and
authenticate their sacred spaces. This article will look at the ways in
which Muslim sacred spaces are defined in Islam, looking particularly
at the way in which angels are used to confirm the sanctity of
particular locations. It will look notions ofsacred space in relation to
the Ka'ba and other places of prayer, comparing Muslim ideas with
those ofJudaism, Christianity and other religious traditions.
Keywords
Islam, sacred space, angels, Ka'ba, Mecca, prayer
Religious theories of sacred space were pioneered by Mircea Eliade in the
1950s and 1960s, and although his ideas have attracted some criticism,'
Eliade's theories continue to be debated. Concepts of religious or sacred
space have focused on four main areas. The first is the idea that there
is a divine archetype of the sacred site, establishing a theological link
1. One important critic has been J.Z. Smith; See Jonathan Z. Smith, To Take Place:
Toward Theory in Ritual (London: University of Chicago Press, 1987), 1-23.
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222 Angels, Ritual and Sacred Space in Islam
between heaven and earth.^ The second is the notion of the axis mundi:
a central point or pole around which the spiritual world is focused. The
axis mundi also marks a point of intersection between the divine and
earthly worlds, as well as a point of contact between the two,' As Smith
has shown, Eliade may have overstated the role and prevalence of a
religious axis mundiV nevertheless in many religious traditions the Temple
does act as a meeting place between God and humans. The third
theme is the role of mythology in the sacralising of place: a holy site is
given a sacred history, placing it in a wider spiritual context.' The fourth
theme, explored by Jonathan Z. Smith, is that ritual plays an important
part in the articulation of sacred space.*
There has, however, been relatively little application of these theories
to the concept of sacred space in Islam, especially in the medieval
period;' nor many studies of Muslim beliefs about Mecca, the Ka'ba and
other sacred sites." This article will explore notions ofsacred space in an
Islamic context, comparing it to other religious traditions, particularly
Judaism. To what extent do Islamic beliefs about the Ka'ba, and Mecca
more widely, differ from Jewish ideas about the Temple andJerusalem?
How is sacred space authenticated? Are there differences in the sacredness
of holy sites, and if so, how is this sacred "hierarchy" articulated?
2. Mircea Eliade, The Saaed and the Profane: The Nature ofReligion (New York: Harcourt,
Brace and World, 1959), 42-50.
3. Mircea Eliade, The Myth of the Eternal Return, or Cosmos and History (Princeton, NJ:
Princeton University Press, 1954), 12-17.
4. See Smith, To Take Place, 1-13.
5. Eliade, The Saaed and the Profane, 68-113 and Mircea Eliade, Patterns in Comparative
Religion (London: Sheed and Ward, 1958), 410-436.
6. See Smith, To Take Place, 103-117.
7. Josef Meri is one of the few to have explored this area; see Josef W. Meri, The Cult
ofSaints Among Muslims andJews in Medieval Syria (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2002), 12-58.
8. One important article is Juan Eduardo Campo, "Authority, Ritual, and Spatial Order
in Islam: The Pilgrimage to Mecca,"Journal ofRitual Studies 5:1 (1991): 65-91. Campo
is interested in the concept of authority and the rituals associated with the pilgrimage,
rather than the concept of sacred space itself. There have been a number of
other articles on the rituals of the pilgrimage, e.g.: Marion Katz, "The Hajy and the
Study of Islamic Ritual," Studia Islámica 98/99 (2004): 95-129 and William R. Roff,
"Pilgrimage and the History of Religions: Theoretical Approaches to the Hajj," in
Approaches to Islam in Religious Studies, edited by Richard C. Martin (Oxford: One
World, 2001).
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s. R. Bürge 223
This article will also appraise the role of angels in the articulation of
sacred space in Islam, particularly in the angelic performance of ritual
both on earth and in heaven.
The Ka'ba and its Heavenly Archetype
It is incredibly common for sacred sites to be linked directly to another
identical, or almost identical, version in heaven. There is some logic to
such a conception of the temple, since both the divine and earthly temples
are places through which divine communication can take place. For
Judaism, during its existence, the Temple and the Holy of Holies marked
the actual, physical place of divine communication. This single point
was also often considered as the navel {omphalos), or centre of the world,
also known as the axisrnundi.'In his study of Egyptian and Ancient Near
Eastern religions, Nicholas Wyatt comments:
The point of thejunction is communication between the two, allowing
the benefits of cult to reach the god (they were seen as being fed by
their servants, like great lords), and for their power to be transmitted
downwards as a blessing...'"
The axis mundi represented a direct link between the heavenly and
divine worlds. InJewish literature, as well as Semitic religious traditions
more broadly, there are many texts that establish links between the
earthly temple and a heavenly prototype at the ends of this line of communication."
James R. Davila has commented on the heavenly temple
in the Dead Sea Scrolls, noting that: "The Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice
envisions a macrocosmic Temple conceived on the model of the earthly
Tabernacle and the Temple in Jerusalem."'^ The two places that mark
the path of interaction and communication between heaven and earth
9. Samuel Terrien, "The Omphalos Myth and Hebrew Religion," Vietus Testamentum 20
(1970): 315-338; Jon D. Levenson, "The Temple and the World," Journal of Religion 64
(1984): 275-298 and Philip S. Alexander, "Jerusalem as the Omphalos of the World:
On the History of a Geographical Concept," in Jerusalem: Its Sanctity and Centrality to
Judaism, Christianity and ¡slam, edited by Lee I. Levine (New York: Continuum, 1999),
104-119.
10. Nicholas Wyatt, Space and Time in the Religious Life of the Near East (Sheffield: Sheffield
Academic Press, 2001), 161.
11. See R.G. Hammerton-Kelly, "The Temple and the Origins of Jewish Apocalyptic,"
Vetus Testamentum 20 (1970).
12. James R. Davila, "The Macrocosmic Temple, Scriptural Exegesis and the Songs of
the Sabbath Sacrifice," Dead Sea Discoveries 9 (2002): 1.
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224 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
are often in a parallel location and usually take the same physical form.
As will be seen below, the Ka'ba marks the particular locus where there
is a direct link between the heaven and earthly realms. The Ka'ba is also
the direction in which Muslims pray—a common feature of a temple in
Semitic and other religious traditions, Michael Sells, in a review article,
discusses the mihrah; commenting:
What are these prayer niches but in a sense relics of abodes or potential
relics, pointing toward the dwelling of sacrality (bayt al-haram) in
Mecca, itself reflected in the heavenly enlivened dwelling or dwelling
of life {ad-bayt [sic] al-ma'mur) and the eternal abode of the afterlife
(dáraí-aíchíra)."
The Inhahited House [hayt al-ma'mür] is the Islamic "replica" of the Ka'ba
in heaven. The connection between heaven and earth through the locus
of Mecca, and by extension through the qihla, is an extremely important
part of the interaction between humans and God, W, McKane comments
that in Islamic visions of heaven there "is a doctrine of heavenly prototypes
and earthly copies; thus a heavenly Ka'aha, a heavenly mu'addin
and an angel in the form of a cock who regulates the crowing and silence
of all earthly cocks,"" This heavenly prototype is believed to be directly
above the earthly Ka'ha, this can be seen in a number of texts, such as
al-Tha'labi's Stories of the Prophets:
Then God inspired Adam: I have a Sanctuary located directly under My
Throne; so go to it and circumambulate it, as (the angels) circumambulate
My Throne; and pray there, as they pray at My Throne, for there I
shall answer your prayer,"
13. Michael A. Sells, "Towards a Multidimensional Understanding of Islam: The Poetic
Y.ey','Journal ofthe American Academy ofReligion 64 (1996): 145-166,151.
14. W. McKane, "A Manuscript on the Mi'raj in the Bodleian,"Journal ofSemitic Studies 2
(1957): 375; for more on the history of the Kaba, see Uri Rubin, "The Ka'ba: Aspects
of its ritual fianction and position in pre-lslamic and early Islamic times,"Jerusalem
Studies in Arabic and Islam 8 (1986): 97-131.
15. William M. Brinner (trans.), 'Arä'is al-majälis fî qisas al-anbiyä' or "Lives ofthe Prophets"
(Leiden: Brill, 2002), 60. The nature of some of these hadith makes them difficult
to locate. However, the Mamluk polymath Jalal al-Din Al-Suyütí compiled a hadith
collection explicitly on angels, making it a very useful resource: al-Suyütí, edited
by Muhammad al-Said b. Basyüní Zaghlûl, Al-Habä'iic fi akhbär al-malä'ik (ieinif.
Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1988). See also S.R. Bürge, Angels in Islam: A Commentary,
with Selected Translations, ofjaläl al-Dîn al-SuyütVs Al-Habä'ik fî akhbär al-malä'ik (The
Arrangement of the Traditions about Angels), Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of
Edinburgh, 2009. Al-Suyûtï includes a similar comment in his al-Haba'ik: "...if [the
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s. R Bürge 225
Here, the Ka'ba is seen to be related to God's Throne, and the rites associated
with the pilgrimage and the Ka'ba are those performed in heaven
by the angels. The Inhabited House is also used explicitly as the physical
template for the earthly Ka'ba, take this hadith as an example:
When God sent Adam down from the Garden, he said: Adam, I have
built a house for me, opposite my house which is in heaven. You can
worship me in it, and your children,just as my angels worship around
my Throne. So the angels came down to him, and he dug until he
reached the Seventh Earth, and the angels threw the rock down until it
towered over the face of the earth.'*
In this case the Ka'ba is associated directly with the angels and the Inhabited
House—it is, in effect, a replica of the divine house of God." Similar
ideas can been seen Jewish and Christian texts."
In Islamic tradition there is a different relationship between the Ka'ba
and the divine world, as it does not represent a place of direct communication,
nor are its rituals restricted to a select few, such as a priestly
class. However, the Ka'ba is envisaged and imagined in similar terms as
the world's omphalos or axis mundi. The existence of the Inhabited House has
strong similarities to the divine and earthly depictions of the Jewish Temple
and establishes the Ka'ba as the religious and spiritual centre in Islam.
Myths, Angels and the Authentication of Sacred Sites
Mircea Eliade has highlighted the importance of myth in the establishment
of sacred sites." Such myths and legends lend a sacred site authenticity,
as well as presenting explanations for its location, size, form and
function.^" Narratives place the locus within the context of a community's
salvation history, linking the present community to key figures of
the religion's past. Often the most important sites are those with a coninhabited
House] were to come down, then it would come down on top of [the Ka'ba]!'
Al-SuyutT, al-Haba'ik, 14-15 (§2l); see also 134-135 (§498), 142 (§522) and 185 (§685).
16. Al-Suyût;î, al-Haba'ik, 185 (§687).
17. Brannon Wheeler has suggested that the "sanctuary at Mecca was to be an earthly
substitute for the garden of Eden, made necessary by Adam's fall..." Brannon
Wheeler, Mecca and Eden: Ritual, Relics and Territory in ¡slam (Chicago, IL: University
of Chicago Press, 2006), 64.
18. See Davila, "The Macrocosmic Temple, Scriptural Exegesis and the Songs of the
Sabbath Sacriflce."
19. Cf. Mircea Eliade, "Cosmogonie Myth and 'Sacred History'," Religious Studies 2 (1967).
20. Cf. Smith, To Take Place, 2-13.
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226 AngeL, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
nection to a faith community's founder. Other important people, such as
prophets, kings and saints, also give further approval to the sanctity of
the location, creating a sense of sacredness in perpetuity.
The association of the specific locus of the temple to events, such as the
binding of Isaac, associate the place with an important moment in Jewish
salvation history," and also make dislocation of the temple from its site
problematic.^^ In Islam, some traditions suggest that the Inhabited House
is the place in which God resides, in others the Throne of God is directly
above the House.^^ This alignment of Throne, House and Ka'ba establishes
an important theological link between the two poles of the axis mmdi. As
inJudaism, there are a number of stories that focus on the Ka'ba as part of
this spiritual connection, most notably the creation ofAdam and the purification
of the Ka'ba by Abraham and Ishmael.^" The association of the Ka'ba
with the divine world is also emphasised with traditions about its building
by Adam or other prophets. The stories about Adam are particularly
important as they show that God does not leave Adam and, by extension,
humanity as a whole, without any means of communication with God."
Such narratives are extremely popular.^' Al-Tabari writes in his History:
Adam missed what he used to hear from the angels and felt lonely so much
so that he eventually complained about it to God in his various prayers. He
21. For a discussion of the presence of angels during this narrative, see Moshe J. Bernstein,
"Angels at the Aqedah: A Study in the Development of a Midrashic Motif,"
Dead Sea Dkcoveries 7 (2000): 263-291.
22. Cf. Isaac Kalimi, "The Land of Moriah, Mount Moriah and the Site of Solomon's Temple in
Biblical Historiography," Harvard Theological Review 83 (1990) and idem, "Zion or Gerizim?
The Association of Abraham and the Aqeda with Zion / Gerizim in Jewish and Samaritan
Sources," in Boundariesof the Ancient NearEastern World:A TributetoCyrus H. Gordon, edited
by Meir Lubetski, Claire Gottlieb and Sharon Keller (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press,
1998). Temples are frequently associated with important mythic events; cf. Raphael Patai,
Man and Temple in AncientJewkh Myth and Ritual (London: Nelson, 1947), 105-139.
23. Such an anthropomorphic view of God did raise problems for Muslim theologians; for
a discussion images of God residing in heaven, see Gösta Vitesam, '"Arsh and kursL An
Essay on Throne Traditions in Islam," in living Waters: Scandanavian Orientalktic Studies
presented to Frede Lekkegaard, edited by Egon Keck, Svend Sondergaard and Ellen
Wulff (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 1990); and ThomasJ. O'Shaughnessy,
"God's Throne and the Biblical Symbolism of the Qur'an" Numen 20 (1973).
24. Cf. Q 2:125 and the stories relating to this in the exegeses.
25. For a discussion of this theme, see Wheeler, Mecca and Eden, 56-70.
26. Cf. al-Zarkashï, edited by Abu '1-Wafa' Musfafa al-Maraghî, I'läm al-säjid bi-ahkän almasäjid
(Cairo: n.p., 1384), 43-50.
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5. R. Bürge 227
was therefore sent to Mecca.... God sent down ajewel (yäqüt ["ruby"]) of
Paradise where the House is located today. (Adam) continued to circumambulate
it, until God sent down the Flood. Thatjewel was lifted up, until
God sent His friend Abraham to (re)build the House (in its later form)."
In this example, the Ka'ba is partly of divine origin, not simply a recreation
of a divine structure on earth. Such a position is less common in
Islamic tradition, but it is important to note that this hadith also includes
references to both Adam and Abraham.
In the context of the nascent Muslim community, it should not be surprising
to see Muhammad have a similar relationship with the Ka'ba. In
the histories of the period and the biographies of the Prophet's life, it is
possible to see direct links between him and the Ka'ba itself. The Prophet,
like Abraham and Ishmael, purifies the Ka'ba of idols;^* was selected
by the Meccans to install the black stone," and he also established the
rites and rituals to be performed during the pilgrimage.'"
It is interesting to note that Islam did not seek to institute the Ka'ba as
a new sacred site, but places it within a wider salvation-historical context.
Jonathan Z. Smith comments that the establishment of Constantinople
as a new Christian religious centre faced problems.
The creation of a new ritual site is always an intriguing process. For,
from the standpoint of ritual, novelty may result in a functional gain,
but,just as often, in an ideological loss. If the former allows the freedom
to innovate, the latter may result in a lack of resonance."
Islamic tradition goes out of its way to associate the Ka'ba with Adam
and the establishment of life on Earth. The Ka'ba's association with the
27. Franz Rosenthal (trans.). The History of Al-Tabari; from the Creation to the flood (Albany:
State University of New York Press, 1989), 293; cf Brinner, 'Arä'is al-majälis p
qisas al-anbiyä' or "Lives of the Prophets," 147. For the legends surrounding Ishmael,
Hagar and the well of Zamzam, see G.R. Hawting, "The Disappearance and Rediscovery
of Zamzam and the 'Well of the Ka'ba'," Bulletin of the School of Oriental and
African Studies 43 (1980): 44-54.
28. Alfred Guillaume (trans.). The Life ofMuhammad: A Translation oflbn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul
Allah. (Repr. Karachi: Oxford University Press, 2006), 552.
29. Guillaume, The Life ofMuhammad, 84-86.
30. Especially during the 'Farewell Pilgrimage'; see Guillaume, The Life ofMuhammad,
649-652. See also Richard Bell, "Muhammad's Pilgrimage Proclamation," Journal of
the Royal Asiatic Society 2 (1937); for a criticism of Bell's article see, Uri Rubin, "The
Great Pilgrimage of Muhammad: Some Notes on Sura IX" Journal of Semitic Studies
27 (1982).
31. Smith, To Take Place, 75.
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228 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
Inhabited House takes this even further, linking the location to a préexistent
and eternal place. Islamic texts assert that the sacred centre at
Mecca is not new, but the original centre. This has much in common with
Islam's conception of itself, not as a new, innovative religion, but hanif—
part of the olderJudeo-Christian tradition.'^ At the same time, the rites
ofthe haj) also incorporated pre-Islamic practices, marking a break from
the two Abrahamic religions."
The narratives about Adam, Abraham and Muhammad create a direct
link between this world and the next from its very inception. These stories
also create a continuous link between the present moment and past prophets,
which will continue until the Last Day. These stories also give the particular
location religious significance and authentication, as the prophets
of the Islamic past continually reaffirm the sacredness of the location.
The Presence of Angels as a Marker of Sanctity
It has already been seen above that heavenly prototypes and legends
about the prophets have been used to authenticate the sacredness of
the holy sites. In both the mythic accounts and the descriptions of the
heavenly archetypes ofthe earthly structures angels have also featured.
The presence of angels is an extremely important way in which the
sacredness of a site or the holiness of an individual can be understood.'^
In his study ofJewish apocalypses, Ithamar Gruenwald highlights ways
in which texts signal the presence of the divine, ofwhich two important
components are the presence of angels around God's Throne and the
recitation ofprayers by angels." Conversely,just as the angels in a vision
32.
33. "The very incorporation of the rites of the pre-lslamic sanctuaries in and around
Mecca into the Islamic religion constituted the decisive step by which Islam made
itself independent of the other monotheistic religions." S.D. Gottein, "The Sanctity
ofJerusalem and Palestine in Early Islam," in Studies in Islamic History and Institutions.
edited by S.D. Gottein (Leiden: Brill, 1966), 135-148,138.
34. For example, in the Testament ofLevi, the visionary is robed in priestly garments by
angels, which "...is meant to reinforce t^he divine favour of the priesthood for his
descendents, to legitimate Levi in his,priestly duties." Alan F. Segal, "Heavenly
Ascent in Hellenic Judaism, Early Christianity and their Environment," in Außtieg
und Niedergang der römischen Welt, edited by Hildegard Temporini, Wolfgang Haase
and Joseph Vogt (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1972): 1361; see also James H. Charlesworth,
"The Portrayal of the Righteous as an Angel," in Ideal Figures in AncientJudaism,
edited by George W. E. Nickelsburg andJohnJ. Collins (Chico, CA: Scholars Press, 1980).
35. Ithamar Gruenwald, Apocalyptic and Merkevah Mysticism (Leiden: Brill, 1980), 31.
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s. R. Bürge 229
of God's Throne testify to the veracity of a prophetic vision, the presence
of angels on earth can indicate an area of sacred space,"
It has already been seen that there is a heavenly archetype of the
Ka'ba, but the references to the Inhahited House frequently describe the
presence of angels. There are a number hadith that describe the angels
worshipping God in the Inhabited House and then descending to the Ka'ba
and worshipping there:
,..It is called The Inhabited House because seventy thousand angels pray
in it every day; then they come down, when they have spent the night
[there], they circumambulate the Ka'ba, then they bless the Prophet
(God bless him and grant him salvation), then they leave and they do
not have another turn until the coming of the Hour."
In this hadith, the angels are not instituting any particular rite or ritual,
but they are used to stress the holiness and sanctity of the location of the
Ka'ba. This hadith and others like it illustrate that the Inhabited House is at
the heart of the angelic worship of God, and that the earthly Ka'ba functions
similarly. In this way the angels are used to establish a link between
the divine worship in the Inhabited House and Muslim ritual on earth.
The Temple and the Ka'ba, as divine loci, are also the focus of divine worship;
and for bothjews and Muslims, there is a scriptural injunction to pray
towards the central locus.^* In other Jewish (and Christian texts), especially
pseudepigrapha and the Dead Sea Scrolls, references to angels can also be
seen praying alongside humans, facing the same direction," In Islam the
locus of the "temple" as the house of God is a key component of the worship
ofGod as the qihla is directed to the Ka'ba, and the angels can been seen
36. There has been much work done on angelology in Judaism and Christianity; e.g.
Kevin P. Sullivan, Wrestling with Angels: A Study of the Relationship Between Angels
and Humans in Ancient Jewish Literature and the New Testament (Leiden: Brill, 2004);
Georges Tavard, with André Caquot and Johann Michl, Die Engel (Freiburg: Herder,
1968); and Michael Mach, Entwicklungsstadien desjüdischen Engelglaubens in vorrabinischer
Zeit (Tübingen:J. C. B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck), 1992). The presence and interaction
of the Qumran community with the angels is also extremely important, see
MaxwellJ. Davidson, Angek at Qumraru A Comparative Study ofl Enoch 1-36,72-108 and
Sectarian Writings from Qumran (Sheffield: JSOT, 1992).
37. Al-Suyût:T, al-Haba'ik, 14-15 (§21); see also 134-135 (§498), 142 (§522) and 185 (§685);
see also al-AzraqT, Akhbär Makka (Beirut: Dar al-Andalûs, 1994), 32-51; and alZarkashî,
l'läm al-säjid bi'ahkäm al-masäjid, 43-48.
38. Praying towards Jerusalem is mentioned in Hebrew Bible, e.g. 1 Kings 8:44.
39. There have been a number of studies on angelic prayer, e.g. Bilhah Nitzan (trans.Jonathan
Chipman), Qumran Prayer and Religious Poetry (Leiden: Brill, 1994), 273-318.
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230 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
as behaving in the same way."" In the performance of the ritual prayers, a
Muslim engages with divine space, along with all the other members of the
community: "The central gesture [of the ritual prayers] is the facing of the
direction of prayer, in Arabic, tawliyat al-w\yh, the turning of one's face (to
the house of God)."" The hadith do not only describe facing the qibla of the
Inhabited House, they also show the angels performing or supporting specific
rituals associated with the Ka'ba. For example, the angels are said to
have been the first to perform a circumambulation of the Ka'ba.
Adam (peace be upon him) circumambulated the Holy House, and the
angels said: 'Your piety obeys [God], Adam, we have circumambulated
this House before you, for two thousand years."^
Adam, as the first man and the first to come into contact with the Ka'ba,
is associated with its rituals, which does make logical sense in salvationhistorical
terms. Another hadith establishes a link between the practice
of circumambulation in heaven and on earth:
And [Adam] walked around it, just as he had walked around the Throne,
and he performed the prayers by it,just as he had performed them by
the Throne."
The angels are used particularly prominently to show that the rites and
rituals performed by the Muslim community are those performed by the
angels. There are a number of hadith in which specific liturgical practices
are described as being practised by the angels in heaven. These
include general references to the performance of the ritual prayers,^^ to
specific elements such as the adhan and give the roles of muezzin and
imam to different angels."' The fact that there is an imam and a muezzin
40. The ritual gesture of facing the direction of a sacred site is a key component in
Judaism (including Samaritanism), Christianity and other religious traditions; cf.
B. L. Gordon, "Sacred Directions, Orientation and the Top of the Map," History of
Religions 10 (1971): 220-222.
41. A. Neuwirth, "Face of God-Face of Man: The Signiflcance of the Direction of Prayer
in Islam," in Self, Soul and Body in Religious Experience, edited by A.L Baumgarten,
J. Assmann and G.G. Stroumsa (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 302; see also Syed Ali Ashraf, "The
Inner Meaning of the Islamic Rites: Prayer, Pilgrimage, Fasting,Jihad," in Islamic Spirituality:
Foundations, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (London: SCM Press, 1987).
42. Al-SuyQtT, al-Haba'ik, 162 (§609).
43. Al-Suyütí, al-Haba'ik, 166 (§624).
44. e.g. "When Israfil glorifies God, he cuts off the ritual prayers and the hearing of all
the angels in heaven." Al-Suyûtî, al-Haba'ik, 35 (§100).
45. One hadith states that Gabriel is imam (§39), whereas another that Michael is imam
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s. R. Bürge 231
in heaven shows that the earthly practices of the Muslims are a copy of
those performed in the divine realm." This is an extension of the concept
of the parallel 'Houses of God' in heaven and earth—the Ka'ba and
the Inhabited House. The idea that earthly practice is a mirror of the heavenly
is seen most clearly in a hadith included in Al-Suyûtï's al-Haha'ih
The muezzin ofthe heavenly host is Gabriel, and Michael is their imam,
who leads them in the prayers in the inhabited house, and the angels
ofthe heavens congregate and circumambulate the /«habited House,
and they perform the prayers and pray for forgiveness. God gives their
reward, their forgiveness and their praise of God to the community of
Muhammad (God bless him and grant him salvation)."
In this hadith a whole number of Muslim ritual practices can be seen: the
ritual prayers, the direction of the qibla and the circumambulation of the
Inhabited House. Eurthermore, the Muslim community actually benefits
from these angelic actions.
There is also an important angel called the Cockerel that has a special role in
ritual life." The angelic cockerel calls out during the night, which in turn causes
earthly cockerels to rouse Muslims from their sleep in time for the dawn
prayers."' Cockerels were revered in Islam for this reason, and they are given
similar roles in other religious traditions includingjudaism,'" Zoroastrianism,"
and Gabriel is the muezzin (§83) and in yet another that the angel Israfil is the muezzin
(§102); see Al-SuyfltT, al-Haba'ik, 19,30 and 35-36.
46. There are a number of hadith that describe the angelic call to prayer, usually witnessed
by Muhammad during his ascension; these are often used in the arguments
between different Muslim groups concerning the wording of the call to prayer;
cf. I.K.A. Howard, "The Development of the Adhän and ¡qäma of the Salât in Early
Islam,"Journal ofSemitic Studies 26 (1918): 219-228.
47. Al-Suyütí, al-Haba'ik, 30 (§83).
48. Asin Palacios comments: "El gallo de la leyenda musulmana es también de gigantesco
tamaño, y se ofrece a los ojos de Mahoma llenando el cielo; sus alas agítanse
igualmente al entonar sus cánticos religiosos excitando a los hombres a la prática
de la oración, y reposan después..." M. Asín Palacios, La Escatología Musulmana en
la Divina Comedia: Seguida de la Historia y Críticade una Polémica (Madrid: Escuelas de
Estudios Árabes de Mardid y Granada, 1943), 31.
49. See Roberto Tottoli, "At Cock-Crow: Some Muslim Traditions About the Rooster,"
Der ¡slam 76 (1999): 139-147.
50. Cf. 3Bar. 6:16: "This is what wakens the cocks on earth, for just as articulate beings
do, thus also the cock informs those on the earth according to its own tongue. For
the sun is being prepared by the angels and the cock is crowing."
51. SeeJohn P. Peters, "The Cock,"Journal ofthe American Oriental Society 33 (1913): 377-380.
© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011
232 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
and Mesopotamian religion." This establishes further links between the divine
and human realms. It also associates the dawn prayers with their simultaneous
performance in heaven. In this way, the human and divine prayers are unified
temporally. Earthly rituals, then, become deeply entwined with the divine
world, through joint participation in ritual, and the divine origin of acts like
the call to prayer. In these examples, earthly ritual becomes a reflection of
divine ritual, bridging the gap between the two realms.
The use of angels as exemplars of ritual performance is an important
area for discussion. The basic thesis is that the correct rituals are those
performed in heaven. This is not something to cause great surprise, as it
is also found inJewish and Christian texts."
"This common participation of men and angels in the heavenly worship
is one of the particular ideas of Revelation and one of the boldest interpretations
ofworship of all. The Old Testament and post-exilicJudaism
knew of an angelic worship in heaven and also of angels descending to
the worship of God's elect and ascending again with their prayers."'"
The simultaneous worship of God by both angels and humans is particularly
important in the Qumran community, where there are a number
of liturgical texts that refer to angels, especially, the Songs of the Sabbath
Saaifice.^^ There have been a number of studies of the way in which
angels interact with humans in prayer. One such approach by Bilhah
Nitzan highlights three main ways in which angels are used in discussions
of prayer: (i) angels and humans pray together, as a single body,
worshiping God; (ii) angels, as divine creatures, are specialists in prayer,
and they cannot be emulated by humans; and (iii) some special humans.
52. See Erica Ehrenburg, "The Rooster in Mesopotamia," in Leaving No Stones Unturned,
edited by Erica Ehrenburg (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 2002).
53. See Andrei A. Orlov, "Celestial Choirmaster: The Liturgical Role of Enoch-Metatron
in 2 Enoch and the Merkebab Tradition,"Journalfor the Study ofthe Pseudepigrapha 14
(2004); Esther G. Cbazon, "Liturgical Communion with the Angels at Qumran," in
Sapiential Liturgical and Poetical Texts from Qumran: Proceedings of the Third Meeting of
the International Organization for Qumran Studies, Osb 1998, edited by Daniel K. Falk et
aL (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 95-105; and Esther G. Chazon, "Human and Angelic Prayer
in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls," in Liturgical Perspectives: Prayer and Poetry in
Light ofthe Dead Sea Scrolls, edited by Esther G. Chazon (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 35-47.
54. Otto A. Piper, "The Apocalypse of John and the Liturgy of the Ancient Church,"
Church History 20 (l95l): 10-22,11.
55. See James R. Davila, Liturgical Works (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Company, 2000), 97-167.
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s. R. Bürge 233
such as prophets and visionaries, are able to copy angelic prayer, but
it is not possible for all humans to do so." All of these elements can be
encountered in Islamic tradition.
Islam follows other religious traditions in designating a sacred site and
authenticating its holiness in different ways. In line with the conception
of the Temple and its place inJewish tradition, the Ka'ba is believed
to have a heavenly counterpart, the Inhabited House. The Ka'ba is either
modelled on the divine Inhabited House, or is associated more loosely
with divine spaces, such as the Throne of God. The Ka'ba has its sacredness
authenticated by its involvement in Islamic sacred history, particularly
through the prophets Adam, Abraham, Ishmael and Muhammad.
Lastly, angels are frequently associated with the Ka'ba and its precincts.
Sometimes this is simply marked by their presence at the site, but at
other times the angels institute the particular rituals performed by the
Muslim community. In this way, the Ka'ba functions in much the same
way as the Jewish Temple, and sacred sites in other religious traditions.
Contesting the Sacred Centre
Whilst the Ka'ba and the holy city of Mecca are widely held to be the
saaed centre in the literary material, other holy sites can often be seen
to compete with the Arabian sanctuary. Jerusalem was a particularly
important 'rival' to Mecca and the Ka'ba, but other holy places, such as
saints' tombs and Shi'i shrines could be considered sacred spaces. How
are these other sites authenticated? And do the ways in which these holy
spaces are defined, authenticated and imagined differ from the Ka'ba?
The fact that Jerusalem is mentioned in the Qur'an established it as an
important site, incorporating Judeo-Christian tradition. It was the focus
of many Islamic traditions (especially the Prophet's ascent to heaven and
night-journey) making it an obvious sacred site. Indeed, Islamic tradition
portrays the city and the Temple mount in similar ways to the Ka'ba:
(i) the city has a long mythic tradition associated with it; (ii) there is a
link between the Temple mount and Qur'anic prophets; (iii) the city has a
'link' to heaven through the Prophet's ascension; (iv) Jerusalem was the
original qibla and (v) angels are associated with the location." F.E. Peters
has argued that Muslims did not simply accept the holiness ofJerusalem,
56. Nitzan, Qumran Prayers and Religious Poetry, 273-276; another scholar; cf. Chazon,
"Human and Angelic Prayer in the Light of the Dead Sea Scrolls," 46-47.
57. Cf. F.E. Peters,Jerusalem and Mecca: The Typology of the Holy City in the Near East (New
York: New York University Press, 1986), 105.
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234 Angels, Rittutl and SacredSpace in Islam
but through the Prophet's ascension and nightjourney 'Muhammadanised'
the city—establishing a direct, Muslim link between the faith and
the place,^' A significant body of material arose, the fada'il works, which
stress the merits ofJerusalem, emphasising its sanctity," To a certain
extent, the "Holy Land" had to be considered sacred space "„„because it
was the homeland of prophecy and of God's revelation,"'*'All this would
seem to presentJerusalem as rival to Mecca,
However, there is also much to weaken Jerusalem's status as a holy
city. First, the merits ofJerusalem are usually focused on a much larger
area than simply the Temple Mount, with a number of different holy
sites being cited in the literature: the Motmt of Olives, the Holy Sepulchre,
Bethlehem and so on," With such a range of sacred sites, the area
could be perceived as having an elevated sacred status, but in reality it
dilutes it, Islamic theology and tradition places great emphasis on the
fact that the Ka'ba marks an individual and specific point of direct interaction
between God and man: the sacredness ofJerusalem is much more
generalized. This is symbolized particularly strongly in the moving of
the qihla from the direction ofJerusalem to the "Holy Mosque," which,
along with the introduction of pre-lslamic Arab rituals, "constituted the
decisive step by which Islam made itself independent ofthe other monotheistic
religions,"" The new qihla rejects Jerusalem as the centre, ana,
consequently, reduces its sacred status.
The narrative and historical traditions in Islam concerning the Ka'ba
show its association with the created world and the Muslim commtinity
from its very beginning. There are a ^reat many traditions that associate
the creation of the Ka'ba, as has been seen above, with Adam after his
expulsion from the Garden.Jerusalem and the Holy Land become part of
the Islamic mythico-historical tradition much later, with Abraham and
58. F.E. Peters, "Jerusalem: One city, one faith, one god,"'mJerusalem: idea and Reality,
edited by Tamar Mayer and Suleiman Mourad (Abingdon: Routledge, 2008), 21-22;
see also Uri Rubin, "Muhammad's NightJourney {isrdt) to al-Masjid al-Aqsä. Aspects
of the Earliest Origins of the Islamic Sanctity of Jerusalem," al-Qantara 29 (2008):
157-163.
59. Suleiman Ali Mourad, "The Symbolism ofJerusalem in Early Islam,"Jerusalem: Idea
and Reality.
60. Gottein, "The Sanctity ofJerusalem and Palestine in Early Islam," 143.
61. See Amikam Elad, MedievalJerusalem and Islamic Worship: Holy Places, Ceremonies, Pilgrimage
(Leiden: Brill, 1995), 78-146.
62. Gottein, "The Sanctity ofJerusalem and Palestine in Early Islam," 138.
© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011
5. R. Bürge 235
the establishment of the Temple by Solomon. At the same time, figures
such as Abraham are associated with the Ka'ba, reducing the status of
Jerusalem and the Temple Mount in Islam. Likewise, whilst there are
many traditions that associate the Prophet's ascension with the Temple
Mount, there are versions of the narrative that separate the nightJourney
['isrä'] from the ascension [mi'räj]." In these cases, the ascension
occurred in Mecca and not inJerusalem, eliminating any direct link
betweenJerusalem and heaven. It should be no surprise that the Merits of
Jerusalem works seek to emphasise that the ascent took place in Jerusalem,
but the fact that there are many hadith that contest this, shows that
this was not agreed by consensus. Furthermore, there is no equivalent
of the Inhabited House for Jerusalem, despite such models existing inJewish
tradition, and even when the ascension is taken to have begun from
the Temple Mount, the association of the Inhabited House with the Ka'ba
moves the location of the divine ascent back to Arabia. Angels are said
to be present in and around Jerusalem, but they do not behave in the
same way as they do in and around the Ka'ba; nor is there any reference
to angels performing rituals there. All these elements reduce the claims
ofJerusalem to be a sacred site.
Something also needs to be said regarding the Merits literature in general.
Almost every major city in the medieval period generated a specific
Merits work: Damascus, Cairo, Asqelon, al-Andalus and even more
remote places such as Balkh.'^ Added to these specific Merits works, local
histories will frequently include a section on the merits ofthat particular
place. Although this does not challenge the sites of specific sanctity,
such as Mecca and Jerusalem, all merits works should be placed in their
wider context and not simply taken at face value. The merits works were
a form of local propaganda either for a particular ruler, newly established
in a particular area," or just simply a product of a city's pride.
63. Cf. Tobias Niinlist, Himmelfahrt und Heiligkeit im islam: Eine Studie unter besondere
Berücksichtigung von ibn STnä's Mi'räj-nämeh (Berlin: Peter Lang, 2002) and Rubin,
"Muhammad's Night Journey (isrâ') to al-Masjid al-Aqsâ. Aspects of the Earliest
Origins of the Islamic Sanctity ofJerusalem," 161-163.
64. E.g. al-Rabâi, Fadä'il al-Sham wa-Dimashq (Damascus: Matba'at al-Tarqî, 1951); alKindî,
Fadä'il Misr al-mahrüsa (Cairo: Maktabat al-Khânjî, 1997); Ibn Hazm, fadä'il
al-Andalas wa-ahlihä (Beirut: Dar al-Kitâb al-JadTd, 1968); al-Balkhî, Fadä'il-i Balkh
(Tehran: Bunyäd-i Farhang-i îrân, 1971). See also Ghaleb Anabseh, "The Sanctity
of the City of 'Asqelon and the 'Merits' Literature of Palestine: A Examination of
Mamluk and Ottoman Sources," Holy Land Studies 5:2 (2006).
65. It has been suggested that the Merits ofJerusalem were originally produced to estab©
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236 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
There is nothing unique about a city having a body of merits material,
butJerusalem and Mecca are clearly set aside by the quantity and quality
of their claims on sacredness,"
The same is found in the relationship between notions of sacred space
and tombs of saints and Imams," Ordinary people gained great spiritual
benefit from visiting shrines of holy people, and they sought, through
their visit, to gain some blessing [baraka] from the shrine itself, or
intercession [shaß'a] from the saint," People believed that by coming
into contact with the saint's body or tomb, it would be possible to gain
eschatological or worldly advantage through the saint's charisma. This
includes visiting the Prophet's tomb, which was an important part of
the pilgrimage itinerary,'» The shrines and tombs can, then, be considered
sacred sites,'" These shrines can be understood to act as a place
of mediation between this world and the next, between humans and
God, through the charisma ofthe saint. Do they, then, compete with the
sacred centre? As with Jerusalem, they appear to do so, but there are
also a nitmber of factors which reduce their importance as sacred sites:
the fact that they do not act as a qihla, nor have ever done so, reduces
their importance; angels are believed to be present, but they do not behave
in the same way as they do in and around the Ka'ba; there are few
specific rituals associated with the visitation oftombs;" and any mythollishJerusalem
as an important pilgrimage site by Abd al-Mälik during the civil war
with 'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr; but this has been rejected-see Elad, Meidevaljerusalem
and Islamic Worship, 147-163.
66. Uri Rubin has argued that there is an "axis of sanctity" stretching from Mecca to
Jerusalem. However, the textual material clearly suggests that Jerusalem's claims to
sanctity were not as strong as Mecca. This somewhat weakens Rubin's theory; see
Uri Rubin, "Between Arabia and the Holy Land: A Mecca-Jerusalem Axis of Sanctity,"Jerusalem
Studies in Arabic and ¡slam 34 (2008).
67. See Meri, The Cult of Saints AmongJews and Christians in Medieval Syria, 100-108; and
Liyakat Takim, "Charismatic Appeal or Communitas? Visitation to the Shrines of
the Imams,"Journal ofRitual Studies 18(2), (2004): 106-120.
68. See Christopher S. Taylor, in the Vicinity of the Righteous: Ziyära and the Veneration of
Muslim Saints in Late Medeival Egypt (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 127-167. Taylor stresses that
any blessings or miracles associated with a saint are possible through the permission
of God. See also Meri, The Cult of Saints Among Jews and Christians in Medieval
Syria, 144-161.
69. See Taylor, In the Vicinity ofthe Righteous, 195.
70. See Meri, The Cult ofSaints AmongJews and Christians in Medieval Syria, 43-58.
71. The sources that Meri includes in his analysis of saint veneration in Islam show
© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011
s. R Bürge 237
ogy around the location is limited to the life of the saint. Furthermore,
the visitation of Sufi shrines is often condemned by religious scholars,
most famously, Ibn Taymiyya." This all makes Sufi shrines less significant
sacred sites.
Whilst there are a number of other sacred spaces in Islam which can
act as places of mediation between humans and God, these sites are not
portrayed in the same way as Mecca and the Ka'ba. The existence of a
sacred centre does not negate the ability for other places of intermediation
to occur, but, conversely, the existence of other sacred spaces
does not weaken the sacred centre in Mecca. Through the qibla the Ka'ba
remains the Islamic sacred centre. No other sacred space has a qibla, and
very few have any specific forms of liturgy or ritual that are performed
in and around the sacred site. The interaction ofangels is also important:
whilst angels may be found at other sacred sites, they do not behave in
the same way as they do in and around Mecca. In Islam angels are present
in almost every place, so it is not surprising to find them at holy places,
but rarely are they described performing rituals or behaving in a special
way. The angels may bestow blessing on humans in Jerusalem or a Sufi
shrine, but they can do so anywhere. Only the Ka'ba, through its association
with Adam has a continuous link with God from the inception of
the created world and before. Other sacred sites, particularlyJerusalem,
may be connected with past prophets, but none have as long a history of
divine interaction than the Ka'ba. The shrines of Imams and Sufi saints
only have a sacred history beginning with that particular Imam or saint.
This does not mean that the space is not sacred (although some, such as
Ibn Taymiyya, would disagree), rather it means that these sacred spaces
do not and cannot challenge the sacred centre.
Widening the Sacred Space
The focus thus far has been the notion of specific areas of sacred space:
temples and shrines. Two ideas have been predominant: first, that ritual
plays an important part in the authentication of a sacred site and, seethat
liturgies at shrines are limited and that the focus is always remembrance of
God (dhikr) through the teachings and testimony of the saint, Meri, The Cult ofSaints
AmongJews and Christians in Medieval Syria, 144-161.
72. See Neils Henrik Olsen, Culte des Saints et Pèlerinages chez Ibn Taymiya (661/1263-
728/1328) (Paris: Librarie Orientaliste Paul Guenther, 1991), 140-192; Taylor, in the
Vicinity ofthe Righteous, 168-194 and Meri, The Cult ofSaints AmongJews and Chrbtians
in Medieval Syria, 126-138.
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238 AngeL, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
ondly, the presence and behaviour of angels indicates and authenticates
sacred space. However, ritual is notjust performed in specific places and
are angels not only present in holy places. What role do angels and ritual
play in the demarcation of sacred space in non-specific locations?
One overarching theme in the hadith relating to angels is that they are
continually present in the human world, and that they seek to support
the community of believers. The idea of God sending angels to help and
support the Muslim commtmity is an early one, found frequently both
in the Qur'an and in hadith. Eor example, during the Battle of Badr, God
sent a contingent of angels to help the outnumbered Muslims:
...and God most surely helped you at Badr.... "Is it not enough for you
that your Lord should reinforce you with three thousand angels sent
down upon you? Yea ifyou are patient and godfearing, and the foe
come against you instantly, your Lord will reinforce you withfivethousand
swooping angels.""
Such angelic support does notjust apply to military aid, but is also important
in ritual and liturgical affairs. In both the Judaism of the Qumran community
and in Islam the angels' participation and support of the community are
crucial to understanding the relationship between God and his creations.
The performance of ritual actions in Judaism, Christianity, Islam and
other religious traditions can generate sacred space around the person
or persons performing it. In an Islamic context this is most frequently
encountered during the performance of the ritual prayers, which is
often portrayed in similar terms to the relationship between the Ka'ba to
God. Eor example, Mahmoud Ayoub comments that the ritual prayers act
as a "bridge between the human being and God. In their essential form,
the canonical prayers in Islam are an affirmation, as indeed all faith is,
of God's mercy and majesty."'^ Eacing the qibla establishes direct contact
between the individual and God, which is why Muslims must be ritually
pure before performing ritual actions, and why spitting and urinating in
the direction of the qibla are also prohibited." In this way, the act of performing
the ritual generates an area of sacred space, albeit temporarily.
In Islamic tradition angels are also seen to bless and support Muslims in
73. Q 3:123-124; A. J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (Oxford: One World, 1998), 61; cf.
Guillaume, The Life o/Muhammad, 303-309.
74. Mahmoud Ayoub, "Thanksgiving and Praise in the Qur'an and in Muslim Piety,"
¡slamochristiana 15 (1989): 2.
75. Cf. al-Bukhârî, Jahifi, Jalôt 33-34.
© Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011
5. R. Bürge 239
the ritual prayers. In this respect the presence of angels could indicate a
sense of the presence of God during the performance of the ritual prayers
in both spatial and temporal contexts. A number of hadith in Al-Suyüti's
collection and in the hadith material more generally, show angels (and by
extension God), encouraging particular religious observances such as attendance
at Friday prayers and recitation ofthe Qur'an. The main manifestation
of this support is the presence of angels with Muslims as they pray:
When a man stands up to perform the prayers in the desert of the
Earth, he performs the prayers with two angels behind him. If he is
called to prayer, and stands up to perform the prayers, angels like the
mountains are behind him.''
The presence of the angels is important because they create an area of
"sacred" space around the person performing the prayers.
The existence of sacred spaces in addition to the centre of holiness or
axis mundi can also be seen in the form ofJudaism that emerged after the
destruction of the Temple." Without the presence of the Temple, Judaism
began to transfer sacredness to other spaces, particularly the synagogues."
In this sense 'sacred space' widens its compass beyond specific areas and
sites." The same blurring of sacred and profane space is found in Islam:
However, whilst Islam does, as we shall see, designate certain places as "sacred,"
it never loses sight of its fundamental conviction that all space is sacred
place, and, through worship, architecture and traditional city planning,
tries to sacralise all space by extending the "sacred" into the "secular."*"
As with other religious traditions, Islam integrates religious symbol-
76. Al-Suyüt:í, al-Haba'ik, 152 (§568); see also 152-3 (§569-572); the number of angels differs
from four thousand (§571) to seventy thousand (§569), orjust "many" (§570).
77. See also Michael E. Stone, "Reactions to the Destructions of the Second Temple: Theology,
Perception and Conversion,"Journal for the Study ofJudaism 12 (l98l): 195-204.
78. Harold W. Turner, from Temple to Meeting House: The Phenomenology and Theology of
Places of Worship (The Hague: Mouton, 1979); Steven Fine, This Holy Place: On the Sanctity
of the Synagogue during the Graeco-Roman Period (Notre Dame: University of Notre
Dame Press, 1997). In later Judaism a holy person was sometimes conceived as an
axis mundi, see Arthur Green, "The Zaddiq as Axis Mundi in LaterJudaism,"Journal of
the American Academy ofReligion 43 (1977): 327-347.
79. The effects of widening the sacred space from one centre, such as the Temple, can
be seen in tbe way in which believers prepare tbemselves spiritually before performing
religious actions, cf. Barucb M. Bokser, "Approaching Sacred Space" Harvard
Theological Review 78 (1985): 279-299.
80. Clinton Bennett, "Islam." In Sacred Place, edited by Jean Holm, with John Bowker
(London: Pinter Publishers, 1994), 88-114.
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240 Angels, Ritual and SacredSpace in Islam
ism and iconography into the secular world, which, as Clinton Bermett
argues, moves the realm of the sacred into the secular. However, whilst
sacred imagery and symbolism may be integrated into the secular or
profane spaces, not all spaces are sacred; rather all spaces have the
potential to become sacred.
Whilst the sacredness ofthe Ka'ba and its precincts is not disputed, the
sacredness of particular locations becomes more vague; and the presence
of angels plays an important part in describing a place as being
sacred. This is particularly important in cases where a Muslim performs
the ritual prayers alone. The angels surround such individuals making
the area around that individual temporarily sacred.
Angels, Ritual and Sacred Space
Muslim notions of sacred space in the tradition literature bear much in
common with articulations of holy spaces in Judaism and other religious
traditions. The Ka'ba has a heavenly archetype, the Inhabited House; the
Ka'ba is the central focus of religious activity; there is a mythic tradition
associated with the Ka'ba, and so on. ¡However, the Ka'ba is not the only
sacred site in the Muslim worldview. Other cities, especially Jerusalem,
contest the status of Mecca, as do the shrines of Imams and Sufi masters.
Furthermore, the act ofperforming the ritual prayers appears to generate
an area of sacred space, albeit only temporarily. In all these spaces angels
can be seen to interact with the space—authenticating its sacredness.
Whilst these different loci can claim a degree of sacredness, there are
a number of factors that establish the Ka'ba as the premier sacred place.
First, the Ka'ba is has a direct link to a heavenly archetype: such archetypes
of other sacred sites on earth are far less common in Islamic tradition.
Secondly, only the Ka'ba is the focus ofritual action. Whilst individual
rituals are performed at other sacred sites, these are supererogatory
and devotional—not the formal ritual prayers. Whilst angels are often
said to be present in a wide range of sacred sites, including around believers
at prayer and in mosques, the Ka'ba has a vast number of angels
visiting and performing rituals both there and in its counterpart in the
heaven. Lastly, the mythic history surrounding the Ka'ba extends back
to the period immediately after the fall ofAdam, and in some cases links
are made to its existence before then. No other sacred site, not even in
Jerusalem, can claim such an old history. The interaction of the various
prophets with the Ka'ba gives a continued sense ofreligious engagement
with the location, authenticating its sacrality further.
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s. R. Bürge 241
Angels, ritual action, a divine prototype or mythic history cannot act
as the sole mechanisms for authenticating sacred spaces individually.
Rather, a mixture ofthese concepts are used together to develop and articulate
the belief in a location's sacredness. These factors are also used
to construct a loose hierarchy of sacredness. The Ka'ba, being the most
sacred, has the most angels visiting it, the most frequent performances
of ritual associated with it, the longest mythological history. At the opposite
end of the spectrum the space arotmd a believer performing the
ritual prayers can include a great number of angels, but only for a limited
period and with no mythological history. In Islam, as inJudaism, the
presence of angels forms an important component in the articulation of
sacred space. It is through the presence of angels that sacred places can
be understood to have their sacredness authenticated, but they way in
which the angels behave can also differentiate a range of sacred places
into a loose "hierarchy," The traditions associated with the Ka'ba ensure
that it is accepted as the spiritual centre and focus of Islam through a
mixture of material on its mythology, its role in the religion's salvation
history, through ritual and through the presence ofangels.
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