The Buddha’s Tooth: Western Tales of a Sri Lankan Relic

Abstract

the prophet of God and his message of religious truth guided by God, respect for the first four successors of the prophet Muhammad as ruler of the country umma. This side of the coin will evoke acceptance of the standard by Muslims who read it, proclaiming as well as the basic elements of Muslim doctrine. The other side is the image of the fish (in the zodiac, the fish that symbolizes the sign of Pisces). In the context of the Rasulid Yemen, this image shows the Rasulid princes’s interest in astronomy (‘ilm al-nujūm) and astrology (‘ilm ahkām al-nujūm). This is evidenced in their own writings and the works of art they protect and consume. The similarity with coins circulating in Mamluk Egypt reveals the intertwined pathways of patronage and visual production. A series of coins linking the name of the sultan Rasulid to the sign of the zodiac may also reflect shared astrological and cultural interests. Meanwhile, Anna M. Gade studies Zamzam water and its relation to environmental conservation. A case like Zamzam water refusing to enter the wrong area for the right reasons demonstrates how water sciences, such as hydrogeology, are linked to human conditions of power and justice at an environmental level. Ultimately, the chapters in this book offer a variety of perspectives on what Islamic artifacts are and what we may learn from them. Some authors engage overtly with theories of materiality, while others take a more oblique approach, demonstrating that theorizing can take many forms and, in the ideal world, theory emerges from rather than imposes itself upon the object under focus. These studies demonstrate that the somatic and object-oriented features of Islamic thing culture are just as important in comprehending Islam’s forms as the doctrines, texts, and ethics that intersect in the production and interpretation of those things. Because of the everydayness of the items in this collection, it is a good place to look at how ethical ideals are produced through encounters between bodies and objects. Islam Through Objects would be even more interesting if it covered more areas of material religion, especially in countries in Southeast Asia where the majority of the world’s Muslims live. Nevertheless, this varied anthology points to new directions in the study of material religion and Islam. It analyzes how Islamic things “make sense” to Muslims around the world, in response to misrepresentations of Islam as an iconophobic, monolithic religion. The chapters vividly describe how Muslim societies come to recognize an object as Islamic because it is soaked with Islamic meaning and presence, as well as how such objects enliven and orient Muslims’ senses and sensitivities.