Mystical bodies/unruly bodies: Experience, empowerment and subjectification in Syrian Sufism

Religious experience can be a tool for the constitution of social subjects, the construction of symbolic meanings and values, as well as for shaping the subjectivity and corporality of the faithful. An ethnographic account and analysis of the Sufi ritual, the darb al-shish, as it was performed in th...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social compass
Main Author: Pinto, Paulo Gabriel Hilu da Rocha (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2016]
In: Social compass
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Syria / Sufism / Ritual / Charisma / Embodiment
RelBib Classification:AG Religious life; material religion
BJ Islam
KBL Near East and North Africa
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:Religious experience can be a tool for the constitution of social subjects, the construction of symbolic meanings and values, as well as for shaping the subjectivity and corporality of the faithful. An ethnographic account and analysis of the Sufi ritual, the darb al-shish, as it was performed in the zawiya (Sufi lodge) of shaykh Mahmud in Afrin, Syria, shows how religious experience allows the embodiment of capacities and dispositions that are lived as deriving from the sacred dimensions of existence, producing religious selves endowed with power that can be defined as charisma. The embodied charisma derived from the darb al-shish posed challenges to the power structures of the religious community in which it emerged. The analysis focuses on collective ritual performances as the main arena of incorporation of the various charismas of the disciples into the hierarchical structure of religious power and authority of the Sufi community. This approach to the ritual tackled the connection between religious experiences and the production of embodied forms of power, such as charisma, and posed the question of how religious codification deals with it.
ISSN:1461-7404
Contains:Enthalten in: Social compass
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0037768616628791