The topic of the present volume lies at the cros­sing of two main sub­jects in Islamic studies: sanc­tity and family. Seeking to explain the rela­ti­on­ships between saints and society through the family insti­tu­tion, the book strives to enlarge the vision of the family as well as to ana­­lyse more conc­re­tely the role of saints – the patterns of the Prophet and his rela­­tives, prob­lems related to the here­di­tary trans­mis­sion of charisma; the rela­tions between the spiri­tual family and the physical family, or between disci­ples and the saint’s family; the spiri­tual master as father and the father as spiri­tual master; and the crucial role of women. Accor­dingly, the table of cont­ents resem­bles a family portrait, and fea­­tures synthetic arti­cles as well as case studies which cover the medieval, modern and contem­porary periods, throug­hout diffe­rent parts of the Muslim world (Maghrib and Mashriq, Anatolia, Iran, India, Pakistan and Central Asia). This collec­tive refle­xion is the result of previous rese­arch done on Islamic hagio­graphy from an anthro­po­lo­gical or histo­rical per­­spec­tive; also, it seeks to benefit from the recent deve­lop­ment of family history in Islam.