Thought Short Report: The cult of saints and shrines in Samarqand province of Uzbekistan

Abstract

This article is focused on the issues of cult of saints and shrines in the Samarqand province of Uzbekistan. The contribution of the author to the study of shrines of the region consists of that beside the summary of the existing material on preSoviet and Soviet periods, he used his own data. For this, the field material was collected from some districts of Samarqand province, which allows defining the peculiarities of shrines and saints veneration in different villages. Most of them are tombs of different saints, shakhids and etc. There is a generally acknowledged hierarchy of the saints in the minds of people. Saints of various categories became worshiped. They included Ali, prominent Islamic religious figures. Heroic epic of Arabic conquests initiated the cult of 'martyrs', e.g. those who died in 'war for the belief'. The mausoleum of Khodja Daniyar is one of the unique sacred places in Samarqand. According to legends, Khodja Daniyar represents the prophet Daniel, and this place is recognized as sacred by Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Since Uzbekistan has become the independent state (1991), the citizens obtained freedom and possibility to worship saints. Pilgrimage to saint tombs is usually referred to as ziyara. Specific standard of ritual of pilgrimage to sacred places has been developed for many years. Islam also inherited the cult of various pre-Islamic local saints, heroes, in many cases legendary, and even local pagan deities that were transferred to Muslim saints.

Death, Resurrection, and Shrine Visitations: An Islamic Perspective

“…9 Philips [4] argues that unlike other religions that endorse saints and holy men for intercession and that are sometimes subjects of worship, Islam "opposes even the excessive praise of Prophet Muhammad" ([4], p. 156). Yet, in spite of all the anti-awliyā' fatwas, the cult of awliyā' is widespread all over the Muslim world, Sunni and Shia, from the former USSR republics to Iran and from Afghanistan to Morocco ( [25], p. 117). Even in non-Muslim countries, such as China and India, there are Muslim awliyā' and shrines.…”