Crown Center paper explores grave visitation in Salafi Islam

Ziyara, grave visitation in Salafi Islam, is a significant religious, social and cultural phenomenon. In "From Visiting Graves to Their Destruction: The Question of Ziyara through the Eyes of Salafis," Ondrej Beranek and Pavel Tupek assess the vigorous debates and divisions that emerged soon after the rise of Islam, such as the legality of building domes over graves, the permissibility of grave visitations by women, and the leveling of graves. Analyzing the legal opinions of Ibn Taymiyya, a crucial figure of Salafi thought, and his zealous followers, this Crown Paper traces the transformation of grave visitation into a doctrinal question, and the connection, be it directly or not, to the destruction of graves in the contemporary Middle East.

Ondrej Beranek holds a Ph.D. in history of the Middle East from Charles University in Prague and is a former postdoctoral fellow at the Crown Center. Pavel Tupek is a Ph.D. candidate in history of the Middle East at Charles University, Prague.

Download "From Visiting Graves to Their Destruction: The Question of Ziyara through the Eyes of Salafis" (PDF)

The full Crown Paper Series can be accessed on the Crown Center’s Web site.