Theorizing Sunniyat as a Mode of Being: An Asadian Perspective from South Africa

Abstract Reflecting on thoughts by Talal Asad, this paper suggests an approach to theorizing Sunniyat – the approach to Islam taken by those commonly called “Barelvis” – in South Africa by focusing on sensibilities and dispositions. It specifically examines the kinds of sensibilities that are cultiv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Islamic Africa
Main Author: Rafudeen, Auwais ca. 20./21. Jh. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2020
In: Islamic Africa
Year: 2020, Volume: 11, Issue: 1, Pages: 94-133
Further subjects:B Discourse
B historical time
B Sunniyat
B autonomous self
B Talal Asad
B Embodiment
B Islam in South Africa
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Summary:Abstract Reflecting on thoughts by Talal Asad, this paper suggests an approach to theorizing Sunniyat – the approach to Islam taken by those commonly called “Barelvis” – in South Africa by focusing on sensibilities and dispositions. It specifically examines the kinds of sensibilities that are cultivated by adherents in their relationship to the Prophet as well as in their practice of everyday ethics. The aim is to shed light on the embodied nature of these sensibilities and not just their discursive context. In Asad’s work, both dimensions are important, but discourse is a prelude to embodiment, with the latter constituting one’s mode of being in the world. In thinking about Sunniyat in this way, the works of Abdulkader Tayob and Seraj Hendricks provide important precedents for navigating both discursiveness and embodiment in a South African Muslim context.
ISSN:2154-0993
Contains:Enthalten in: Islamic Africa
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/21540993-01101003