This presentation brings together evidence of the importance for Muslims of several objects and spaces in the seventh to ninth centuries, such as the Prophet Muhammad’s hair and pulpit, and the places where he had prayed and was buried. Using early hadith and historical texts, this presentation outlines how these different sanctified sites were ritually and materially venerated — and debated — in the seventh, eighth and early ninth centuries.
Using these matters as backdrop, we will consider how early Islamic evidence might be integrated into the study of material religion and sensory history.