Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Indeed, every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and the significance of the ritual. Brannon Wheeler uses both textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam. He provides a 'thick description' of the elaborate camel sacrifice performed by Muhammad, which serves as the model for future Hajj sacrifices. Wheeler integrates biblical and classical Arabic sources with evidence from zooarchaeology and the rock art of ancient Arabia to gain insight into an event that reportedly occurred 1400 years ago. His book encourages a more nuanced and expansive conception of “sacrifice” in the history of religion.
Author(s): Brannon Wheeler
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 481
City: Cambridge
Cover
Half-title
Title page
Copyright information
Contents
Preface
Introduction: William Robertson Smith and the First Camel Sacrifice
Camel Sacrifice of St. Nilus
Sacrifice and the Totem Meal
Sacrifice in Leviticus
Sacrifice and Social Differentiation
Outline
Notes
1 Animal Sacrifices in the Life of the Prophet Muhammad
What Animal Sacrifices Did the prophet Muhammad Perform?
Pre-Islamic Ḥajj and ʿUmrah
Sources and Questions
Notes
2 Burials of Camels at the Tombs of Warriors
Camel Sacrifice and Funerals
Camel Sacrifice and Burial
Horse Sacrifice and Burials
Sacrifice and Social Origins
Camel as Epitome
Notes
3 Pagan Origins of Muslim Ḥajj Sacrifice
Acquisition
Islamic Sacrifices and Hunting Rituals
Quzah as a Storm God
From Rain to Resurrection
Notes
4 Abraham as the Originator of the Ḥajj Sacrifice
Abraham and Islam
Arab Abraham
Abraham as Pastoral Culture Hero
Conclusions
Notes
5 Distribution of the Body of the Prophet Muhammad
Gift of the Body
Special Body of prophet Muhammad
Substitution
Distribution of Body Parts
Conclusions
Notes
6 Martyred Bodies and the Demarcation of Territory
Tombs of Prophets
Mecca as a Graveyard
Martyrdom as Replication and Spread of Cosmogonic Self-Sacrifice
Bodies in Enemy Lands
Manning Garrisons
Blood and Body Parts
Leaving Bodies in the Land
Bodies and Shields and Weapons
Rushing into Enemy Ranks
Martyrdom Is Not Suicide
Ritual Repetition of the Prophet Muhammad's Sacrifice
Conclusions
Notes
Conclusions: Sacrifice and Nostalgia for the Origins of Religion
Combat and Self-Sacrifice
What Is Sacrifice?
Nostalgia and the Origins of Religion
Practice of Sacrifice
Notes
Bibliography
Index
