Chapter 8 - Magic, Marvel, and Miracle in Early Islamic Thought

Summary

The modern study of magic in Islam is intimately connected to the history of Orientalism as it developed during the course of the nineteenth century. It is also true that the belief in jinn and their occult power is rooted in the Qurʾān and the fabric of early Islamic cosmography. Similarly, the practice of shrine veneration and the acceptance and promotion of saintly miracles is intimately connected to the structures of religious authority and piety in Islamic history. The Qurʾān speaks of magic as illicit and harmful and generally associates it with evil or trickery. One of the fields of the occult that directly intersects with the religious elite can be found in the diverse practices of exorcism. The charismatic presence in the written and oral forms of the Qurʾān fits into a larger topography of sacred materiality, which included a range of physical objects and locations invested with intercessory powers.