Animal Sacrifice and the Origins of Islam

Uses textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam.

Brannon Wheeler (Author)

9781316511862, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 23 June 2022

350 pages
23.5 x 15.9 x 3.2 cm, 0.86 kg

Islam is the only biblical religion that still practices animal sacrifice. Indeed, every year more than a million animals are shipped to Mecca from all over the world to be slaughtered during the Muslim Hajj. This multi-disciplinary volume is the first to examine the physical foundations of this practice and  the significance of the ritual. Brannon Wheeler uses both textual analysis and various types of material evidence to gain insight into the role of animal sacrifice in Islam. He provides a 'thick description' of the elaborate camel sacrifice performed by Muhammad, which serves as the model for future Hajj sacrifices. Wheeler integrates biblical and classical Arabic sources with evidence from zooarchaeology and the rock art of ancient Arabia to gain insight into an event that reportedly occurred 1400 years ago. His book encourages a more nuanced and expansive conception of “sacrifice” in the history of religion.

1. Animal sacrifices in the life of the prophet Muhammad
2. Burial of camels at the tombs of warriors
3. Pagan origins of Muslim ?ajj sacrifice
4. Abraham as the originator of ?ajj sacrifice
5. Distribution of the body of the prophet Muhammad
6. Martyred bodies and the demarcation of territory
Conclusions: Sacrifice and nostalgia for the origins of religion.

Subject Areas: Islamic theology [HRHT], Islamic life & practice [HRHP], Islamic worship, rites & ceremonies [HRHC], History of religion [HRAX], Biblical archaeology [HDDH], Middle Eastern history [HBJF1]