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Abstract
In recent decades, numerous popular shrines devoted to saints have emerged in Romani settlements, usually in urban areas. At first sight, these shrines and the veneration of saints are reminiscent of the cult of saints and tombs common in regional Muslim traditions and beyond, and possess particular local features. A detailed analysis of this local case shows new meanings and forms the “wider” tradition gains under new conditions. This paper explores the way the regional Muslim tradition of worshiping holy sites is localized and elaborated within popular religious practice of certain Romani communities in the Balkans. Specifically, it focuses on the contestation of the issues of authenticity and marginality of this vernacular practice in order to reveal the peculiarity of images and meanings Islam gains at the intra-confessional level in a quite heterogeneous social and cultural environment. The material discussed in this paper was collected during ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2011 and 2014 in Serbia, Macedonia, and Kosovo.
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Notes
1 While conducting field research, I noticed nothing similar to it among Muslims of other ethnic communities (Albanians and Turks), who, in turn, were not familiar with such a practice, and could not be reminded of it based on my descriptions. Mostly they referred to a veneration of departed sheikhs and the attendance of mausoleums in large Sufi tekkes or reputed holy sites outside the cities.
2 Even though the keepers of the shrines and the residents of the district affirm that some shrines are well known from a long time ago, they admit that they have been taking care of it for about 20–30 years, and the number of such holy places has increased recently.
3 The term tekiyah (tekija in Serbian and Macedonian; teqeja in Albanian) is broadly applied to different places regarded as holy sites, especially when known for their healing properties. Holy springs, tombs of Sufi sheikhs, and the Sufi tekke itself, and Christian monasteries and churches often appear in the popular ritual discourse as tekiyah. In this paper, I will distinguish between the term tekiyah denoting a popular shrine and tekke (in Turkish) – building where religious gatherings of Sufi brotherhoods take place.
4 The majority of the visitors I talked to described themselves as Muslims appealing to tradition, that is, following the long-time repeated self-definition of their families and groups. At the same time, the structure of pilgrims' religious identity appears to be more complicated since it is built upon the cultural background of their socialization, including religious education in families and the surrounding community, as well as reflection upon their personal practice of faith. For example, some of my interlocutors (Roma Muslims, who grew up in South Serbia) noticed that Islam was introduced to their local “traditionally Muslim” community and became their way of life only after the breakup of Yugoslavia with the arrival and activity of spiritual teachers.
5 The name babalara derives as a plural from the word baba (in Turkish, also in local Romani dialect), which means a “father.” In religious vocabulary, especially in Sufi traditions, the term Baba is used to express one’s respect of spiritual authority or serves as a part of a place name, and is frequently associated with the Bektashi order (Taeschner).
6 Miḥrāb – a niche in the wall of a mosque, which indicates the direction (qibla) to the Kaaba (a sacred object in Mecca); the direction Muslims should face during prayers.
7 “Glory be to God.”
8 D̠ikr (Zikr in Bosnian and Macedonian; zikir in Turkish) – a devotional act based on the recitation of certain prayers, which is performed for the purpose of glorifying Allah. D̠ikr takes particular forms of expression in various ritual traditions, especially in Sufism’s ritual practice.
9 Сhokhano (čoxano in Romani) – a person of inferior status in Romani mythology, which relates to a type of “walking dead.”
10 Stopan (in Bulgarian) and saibiya (from sahip in Turkish, sajbija in Serbian) – an owner. Plotnikova (Citation2004) and Georgieva (Citation1983) offer a detailed description and systematization of the South Slavic areal mythology. For the present Romani beliefs related to the personage of saibiya, refer to Jasić (Citation2001), Zlatanović (Citation2007), and Petrovski (Citation2002).
11 Shahadah (Islamic Creed) or āyat al-Kursī (al-Qur'ān 2:255) written in Arabic calligraphy.
12 For instance, I have seen a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting, a copy of the Virgin Mary Life icon originally painted in the Orthodox style of icon-painting, and numerous images of the Virgin Mary (supposedly in the Catholic style of painting). The Last Supper story is recounted in canonical Gospels (e.g. Mt. 26:17–30).
13 A similar plot also arose in several interviews with Sufi sheikhs from Skopje.
14 The described position denies the possibility of the existence of the so-called anonymous saints, keeping wālī’s status only after concrete historical figures, who have reached a high stage of spiritual development. As follows, the very possibility of the existence of the shrines, which are not connected with concrete persons, is under question.
