Jihad and Sanctity in Damietta: in the Footsteps of Šayḫ Šaṭā (d. 21AH/642AD?)

Among the many saintly figures whose shrines punctuate the Delta region, Shaykh Shaṭā, traditionally presented as a young Egyptian Christian from Damietta who embraced Islam and died as a Muslim martyr in the early phase of the conquest (21 AH/642 AD), is quite a problematic one. The main version of his story, transmitted in the Kitāb Futūḥ Miṣr wa-l-Iskandariyya that was long time attributed to al-Wāqidī, presents Shaykh Shaṭā as a close relative of of al-Muqawqis, the name that Medieval Arabic sources usually apply to the Byzantine-backed ruler of Egypt, whatever figure may be actually meant by this name. This would make Shaykh Shaṭā one of the most important Egyptian converts and maybe the first Egyptian ever to become a Muslim saint. Also, the mawlid of Shaykh Shaṭā, celebrated on the fifteenth night of Sha‘bān, was described as a most important religious festival for centuries, at least from the time of the Crusades up to the early twentieth century (‘Alī Mubārak 1887, Goldziher 1890, Wiet 1913). Yet, the Shaykh’s name is now hardly known beyond the area of his shrine in Damietta, and his very historical existence has somehow been questioned by modern scholars, from Wiet (1913) who defined the traditions on him as a « romantic story », to Öhrnberg (1998) who labeled the Futūḥ traditionally attributed to al-Wāqidī as « a tendentious Volksroman that dates from the time of the Crusades ». In 1959, Niqūlā Yūsuf, who dealt with some competing narratives on Shaykh Shaṭā, considered all this as « a beautiful legend » though with some historical value. Be all this as it may, however, and no matter how «true» it may be from the viewpoint of fact history, the figure of Shaykh Shaṭā is actually very interesting both for historical anthropology and the history of religious ideas. In particular, in line with the ongoing process of valorization of hagiography as a historical source, the complex and largely understudied corpus of narratives on Shaykh Shaṭā may provide some precious indications on connections between jihād, martyrdom and sanctity in Sunni hagiographic literature. Such connections have not received yet fully adequate consideration, probably due to still widespread assumptions on alleged « separation » between sanctity and martyrdom in Sunni Islam, contrary to what is generally recognized with regard to Shi‘ī Islam. With all this in mind, the present paper is divided into two main parts. The first part explores the « making » of the image of Shaykh Shaṭā in Islamic literature and Sufi piety, with special focus on two key issues: (1) the important differences between the many versions connected to the Futūḥ Miṣr once attributed to al-Wāqidī; (2) the specific elements of another narrative line, apparently going back to Ibrāhīm Ibn Waṣīf Shāh (probably 5th/11th century). The second part provides an-indepth analysis of hagiographic and martyrological dimensions of these different traditions on Shaykh Shaṭā, which may contribute to better explore the connections between the notions of jihād, martyrdom and sanctity (walāyat Allāh) in Medieval Sunni Islam.