Witnesses of God: exhortatory preachers in medieval al-Andalus and the Magreb

Abstract

This article analyzes the rhetorical and ritual characteristics of pious exhortation (wa‘z) as practiced in al-Andalus and the Maghreb, based on specimens from two homiletic sources. The texts are considered in light of hagiographical and juridical data in order to assess the social role of exhortatory preachers and to explain the extraordinary impact of their sermons. The sermon’s affective power derives from the preacher’s personal charisma, rhetorical prowess, and his active engagement of his audience in the production of their own charismatic experience. The hagiographies considered depict the wa‘iz as a witness to God’s omnipotence, precipitating the religious conversion of even the socially marginalized.

Este artículo analiza los aspectos retóricos y rituales de la exhortación piadosa (wa,z) practicada en al-Andalus y el Magreb, tomando como base documental dos fuentes homiléticas. Los textos se analizan a la luz de noticias hagiográficas y jurídicas con el fin de determinar el papel social de los wu,az y el impacto de sus sermones. El poder seductor del sermón se halla en función del carisma del predicador, sus dotes de oratoria y su afán en involucrar activamente a su auditorio en su propia experiencia carismática. Los textos hagiográficos examinados presentan al wa,iz como testigo de la omnipotencia divina, propiciando la conversión religiosa, incluso de individuos situados al margen de la sociedad.