To what extent has Islam as a religion shaped the art and material culture of the Middle East and North Africa? How is Islamic religion, in turn, informed by art and material culture? Under the title "Encompassing the Sacred", papers at the 11th Colloquium of the Ernst Herzfeld Society have carefully examined these questions, with a focus on sanctity and the sacred, through examples of Qur'an manuscripts, calligraphic writing, royal iconography, religious locations and buildings. Nine case studies gathered in this volume range from shrines and banners in early Islam until ongoing debates about the use and the conservation of religious buildings.