Placing Islam - (Islamic Humanities) by Timur Warner Hammond (Paperback)

About the Book

"For centuries, the Mosque of Eyèup Sultan has been one of Istanbul's most important pilgrimage destinations, in large part because of the figure buried in the tomb at its center: Halid bin Zeyd Ebãu Eyãub el-Ensãarãi, a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad. In this book, however, Timur Hammond argues that making a geography of Islam involves considerably more than this figure alone. Following practices of storytelling and building projects from the final years of the Ottoman Empire to the early 2010s, Placing Islam shows how different individuals and groups articulate connections between people, places, traditions, and histories to make a place that is paradoxically defined both by powerful continuities and a radically reconfigured relationship to the city and world beyond. This book provides a rich account of urban religion in Istanbul, offering a key opportunity to reconsider how we understand the changing cultures of Islam in contemporary Turkey"--

Book Synopsis

A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press's Open Access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.

For centuries, the Mosque of Eyüp Sultan has been one of Istanbul's most important pilgrimage destinations, in large part because of the figure buried in the tomb at its center: Halid bin Zeyd Ebû Eyûb el-Ensârî, a Companion of the Prophet Muhammad. Timur Hammond argues here, however, that making a geography of Islam involves considerably more. Following practices of storytelling and building projects from the final years of the Ottoman Empire to the early 2010s, Placing Islam shows how different individuals and groups articulated connections among people, places, traditions, and histories to make a place that is paradoxically defined by both powerful continuities and dynamic relationships to the city and wider world. This book provides a rich account of urban religion in Istanbul, offering a key opportunity to reconsider how we understand the changing cultures of Islam in Turkey and beyond.

From the Back Cover

"Timur Hammond's reimagining of Eyüp is lively and erudite, bringing readers a fresh understanding of the spaces and tempos in Istanbul as a place of Islam. The result is thrilling: a story of Islam and placemaking that is at once intricately grounded and expansively illuminating."--Anna J. Secor, Professor of Geography, Durham University

"An impressive ethnographic and textual work. Hammond provides new insight into the inner workings of a sacred site and pilgrimage center, making this a valuable contribution to the literature on urban anthropology and lived Islam."--M. Brett Wilson, Director of the Center for Eastern Mediterranean Studies and Associate Professor of History and Public Policy at Central European University

Review Quotes

"Placing Islam pursues a different, less obvious, and ultimately more rewarding path."-- "Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association"

"An eye-opening work that engages with an impressive assortment of contemporary scholarship across multiple disciplines."-- "Reading Religion"

About the Author

Timur Hammond is Assistant Professor of Geography and the Environment at Syracuse University.