ABSTRACT
In 1985, Richard Martin edited a collection of essays (Martin 1985) on the study of Islam from the perspective of the history of religions. The essays invited and challenged specialists in the study of Islam to employ tools in the history of religions for the study of texts, symbols and traditions of Islam. The volume produced some excellent insights through case studies on early Islam, conversion, pilgrimage and hermeneutics. It was a clear demonstration that the categories and theoretical models in the study of religions could be applied to the study of Islam, and yield some fascinating results. The essays have been widely read and discussed, and other panels and discussions at international meetings have highlighted the need to develop critically similar tools and perspectives from religious studies for the understanding of Islam. In spite of the notable advance in some institutions, however, there is still only a hesitant acknowledgment that the categories developed in the wider discipline might be profi tably employed for understanding Islam and Muslim societies. Graham’s review of ritual theory for the understanding of Islam is one of few such studies, but his conclusion was that Islam was unique in its approach to ritual. According to Graham, none of the available theories threw light on the inherent revisionary nature of Islamic rites (Graham 1983: 70-71).
