0021-1818_islam_98-1-2-i-259

184 Reviews
In his conclusion (pp. 373–79) Behrens restates some of the important points
made during the earlier chapters, particularly concerning the many notable
changes which have come since the arrival of lasting Saudi rule over the town in
the 1920s, and draws up three categories of people who have affected the town
and its development: (a) rulers who have patronised Medina with money, new
buildings, etc.; (b) scholars who have promoted Medina’s merits in works of
fada#il and books about the ziyara to Mu1ammad’s grave; and (c) Medina’s inhabitants
and the pilgrims who visited. There follows a useful bibliography, a glossary
of key terms, and an index.
Behrens makes use of a wide range of sources (Arabic and non-Arabic; Muslim
and non-Muslim), although many of these can naturally be tricky to deal with.
The difficulties of the sources for early Islamic history are well-known and need
not be reiterated here; I merely wish to note that although when Behrens does
discuss the pre-modern periods of Medina’s history (which is, it should be reiterated,
not his main interest), especially the early Islamic centuries, his use of the
sources seems slightly naïve at times, he is to be commended for attempting to
contextualise Medina’s modern significance in light of much longer term historical
developments. Somewhat more surprising (to me at least) than the difficult
nature of sources for earlier periods, however, are the extent of the problems at
times for Medina’s contemporary history. A good example can be seen on p. 337,
where Behrens acknowledges, ‘Obwohl die Existenz der Eunuchen bis vor wenigen
Jahren noch nachgewiesen wurde, ist es nicht klar, ob ihr Korps weiterhin
neue Mitglieder aufnimmt’.
Such problems will always place limitations on the conclusions that can be
drawn from such a study, but Behrens has produced a useful survey of many aspects
of Medina’s sanctity and how that sanctity has been understood and debated
(often savagely) over time. His treatment of the impact of Wahhabism and
Saudi rule on Medina’s development and the Prophet’s Mosque and other sites in
the town seems balanced; alongside the examples of ideologically driven interference
(especially the destruction of certain historical sites) he places the ruling
authorities’ need to cater for an ever increasing number of pilgrims visiting the
town, many of them at exactly the same time. The book also repeatedly demonstrates
just how important attitudes towards sacred spaces can be in determining
how political rulers’ legitimacy (or lack thereof) is perceived.
There are a few small complaints. For example, why, in the table (pp. 27–28)
of important travellers to Arabia, is Ibn ^Abd Rabbih mentioned but none of his
more-or-less contemporaries such as Ibn Rusta or al-Muqaddas\? Why is Evliya
Çelebi not in the same table, especially since he is used as a source on several occasions
in what follows? Also for example in the chapter on the ziyara it does not
seem to be particularly clear why al-Matar\’s (d. 741/1340) discussion is seen as