Islam, Heritage, and Preservation: An Untidy Tradition

Abstract

In this article I argue that the study of cultural heritage preservation practices in the context of Muslim societies has been constructed—and obstructed—through specific historical trajectories and challenges. These originate within the field of cultural heritage preservation, through its own history and principles which have complicated the interplay between heritage and religious values and uses. As a result, situated studies of preservation practices in and by Muslim communities are in their infancy. In this article I revisit the points of contact between the emergence of a Eurocentric preservation dogma and its encounter with different articulations and practices related to Islam that are now approached as part of heritage assemblages and debates. I consider specific biases inherent in these discourses and propose, as a result, to approach the study of Islam and heritage in its own terms—rather than as an alternative to Western preservation paradigms.

Keywords:

• Islam,
• ethnocentrism,
• critical heritage,
• preservation

Acknowledgment

I would like to acknowledge the valuable feedback provided by Rachel Ama Asaa Engmann, Thomas Fibiger, and Ian Straughn during earlier drafts of this article.