This book represents the first continuous history of Sufism in Palestine. Covering the period between the rise of Islam and the spread of Ottoman rule and drawing on vast biographical material and complementary evidence, the book describes the social trajectory that Sufism followed. The narrative centers on the process by which ascetics, mystics, and holy figures living in medieval Palestine and collectively labeled “Sufis,” disseminated their traditions, formed communities, and helped shape an Islamic society and space. The work makes an original contribution to the study of the diffusion of Islam’s religious traditions and the formation of communities of believers in medieval Palestine, as well as the Islamization of Palestinian landscape and the spread of popular religiosity in this area.

The study of the area-specific is placed within the broader context of the history of Sufism, and the book is laced with observations about the historical-social dimensions of Islamic mysticism in general. Central to its subject matters are the diffusion of Sufi traditions, the extension of the social horizons of Sufism, and the emergence of institutions and public spaces around the Sufi friend of God. As such, the book is of interest to historians in the fields of Sufism, Islam, and the Near East.

Contents
List of Figures ix
Note on Transliteration, Names and Dates xi
Introduction 1
1 _ Beginnings 15
Setting the Stage
Typical Ascetic Piety and Diversity
Early Role Models
The Wayfaring Elite
The Genesis of the Sufi Circle
2 _ Integration 70
Building Bridges
Profiles of Sufi Traditionalists
The Sufi Jurist
The Moral Guide and the Birth of the Local Congregation
The Role of the Mosque
The Advent of the Sufi Establishment
3 _ Expansion 129
Diffusing the Tradition
The Charismatic Shaykh
Authority and Following
Lodge and Tomb
Conclusion 181
Epilogue 188
Bibliography 195
Index 213
viii Contents
List of Figures
List of Figures
Figure I.1 Map of Palestine during the early Islamic period
(634 to 1099) 2
Figure 1.1 The lines and circle of Ibn al-Jalla} (d. 306/918-919) 40
Figure 2.1 Two views of the Xalahiyya Khanqah in Jerusalem 113
Figure 3.1 The Ashrafiyya Madrasa in Jerusalem 137
Figure 3.2 A portion of the tombstone of
Abu al-{Awn al-Jaljuli in Ramla 151
Figure 3.3 The zawiya in Dayr al-Shaykh 162
Figure 3.4 Mashhad Sidna {Ali south of Arsuf-Apollonia 166
Figure 3.5 Map of Sufi establishments in Mamluk Jerusalem 168
Figure 3.6 The Abu l-Wafa} Palestinian branch
(early generations) 170