Earth of Musk: Musk, the Garden, and Perfectibility in Medieval Islamic Civilization

Musk, a secretion produced by the musk deer of eastern Central Eurasia, was the most important aromatic substance in medieval Islamic civilization, to the exclusion of the more familiar Near Eastern aromatics such as frankincense and myrrh. Musk is extensively celebrated in Islamic literature and religion as a symbol or attribute of excellence. Both perfumery and medicine required large quantities of musk, making it one of the most valuable of all commodities in the medieval Islamic world. Musk, however, is not native to the Near East, and was only produced beyond the boundaries of the Islamic world in the highlands of eastern Central Eurasia. In addition, musk, as an animal product, was believed to be formed from blood, which is impure in Islamic law. Even so, musk had religious sanction dating from Muhammad himself which overcame these objections. In the medieval Islamic view, musk was not mere blood, but blood which had been transformed by the power of God into a substance characteristic of the Garden, the Islamic afterlife. Descriptions of the Garden ubiquitously feature musk as making up the very earth of the landscape itself. In addition, the bodily processes of humans in the future Garden are to be perfected; instead of sweating, urinating, or defecating, the inhabitants of the Garden will eat and drink, but exude musk instead. Thus the transformation of impure blood into pure musk became a symbol for the perfectibility of humanity.