What question did this study set out to answer?

To investigate the role and perception of Islamic saints within popular Islamic beliefs during the early nineteenth century.

April 3, 2026Open Access

Islamic Saints and the Islam of Saints: A Study of Popular Religion

Key Points

To investigate the role and perception of Islamic saints within popular Islamic beliefs during the early nineteenth century.
Analyzed Edward William Lane's ethnographic work and its observations on popular Islamic practices.
Examined descriptions of Islamic saints and their cultural significance in Egyptian society.
Identified how doubt regarding Islamic saints could lead to accusations of infidelity.
Discussed Lane's depiction of saints as devoted individuals with extraordinary faith, distinguishing them from ordinary humans.

Abstract

Early in the nineteenth century British Orientalist Edward William Lane set off for Egypt, and a three-year sojourn in Cairo produced the remarkable, voluminous An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians (1836), a pioneering ethnography of the Middle East. (1)In addition to many other facets of everyday life, Lane gave substantial attention to the popular beliefs and practices of Islam.In one of numerous descriptions concerning the Islamic saints (wal), he wrote:In the first place, if a person were to express a doubt as to the existence of true welees, he would be branded with infidelity, and the following passage of the Kur-n would be adduced to condemn him: "Verily, on the favourites of God no fear shall come, nor shall they grieve."This is considered as sufficient to prove that there is a class of persons distinguished above ordinary human beings.The question then suggests itself, "Who, or of what description, are these persons?" and we are answered, "They are persons wholly devoted to God, and possessed of extraordinary faith; and, according to This paper is produced for this special issue through a major revision of an article titled "

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