Precarious Sacred Space: Presence, Contingency, and Community

This chapter examines the experiences and challenges of precarious sacred spaces. In many instances, many worshippers don’t have access to bespoke sacred spaces, instead they rely on spaces over which they don’t have overall control. Through the case study of Muslim worshippers in Western Wales, this chapter examines the significance of precarious sacred spaces for maintaining a religious identity in a region where Muslims constitute a very small percentage of the population. The use of such spaces often brings challenges, such as limited access or conditions on its use, or modification of the premises so that it is suitable for worship. The transformation of these sacred spaces is often the result of long campaigns, without necessarily being an “end point” in themselves. The use of such sacred spaces can also create a fragmented sense of religious community among believers and reinforce a discourse of absence, as they do not typically conform to archetypical forms. However, such spaces also provide a valuable hub for placemaking, and bonding and bridging activities beyond devotion. The chapter concludes on the implications of such spaces for recognizing religious presence and a right to cultural expression, as well as to the spatialities of sacrality.