Editing Patron saint (section)

== In Islam ==
Although Islam has no codified doctrine of patronage on the part of saints, it has nevertheless been an important part of both [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] and [[Shia Islam|Shia]] Islamic traditions that particularly important classical saints have served as the heavenly advocates for specific Muslim [[empire]]s, [[nation]]s, [[City|cities]], [[town]]s, and [[village]]s.<ref name=Lings>{{cite book |first=Martin |last=Lings |title=What is Sufism? |location=Lahore |publisher=Suhail Academy |date=2005 |orig-year=1983 |pages=119–120 etc. }}</ref> [[Martin Lings]] wrote: "There is scarcely a region in the empire of Islam which has not a Sufi for its Patron Saint."<ref name=Lings/>{{rp|119}} As the veneration accorded saints often develops purely organically in Islamic climates, in a manner different from Catholic and Eastern Orthodox [[Christianity]], "patron saints" are often recognized through popular acclaim rather than through official declaration.<ref name=Lings/> Traditionally, it has been understood that the patron saint of a particular place prays for that place's wellbeing and for the health and happiness of all who live therein.<ref name=Lings/>

However, the [[Wahhabism|Wahhabi]] and [[Salafi movement|Salafi]] movements have latterly attacked the veneration of saints (as patron or otherwise), which they claim are a form of idolatry or ''[[Shirk (Islam)|shirk]]''.<ref name=Lings/> More mainstream Sunni clerics have critiqued this argument since Wahhabism first emerged in the 18th century.<ref>{{cite book|last=Commins |first=David |title=The Wahhabi Mission and Saudi Arabia |publisher=I.B.Tauris |year=2009 |page=59|quote=Abd al-Latif, who would become the next supreme religious leader ... enumerated the harmful views that Ibn Jirjis openly espoused in Unayza: Supplicating the dead is not a form of worship but merely calling out to them, so it is permitted. Worship at graves is not idolatry unless the supplicant believes that buried saints have the power to determine the course of events. Whoever declares that there is no god but God and prays toward Mecca is a believer.}}</ref>