Sufi Bodies: Religion and Society in Medieval IslamBetween 1300 and 1500 C.E. a new form of Sufi Islam took hold among central Islamic peoples, joining individuals through widespread networks resembling today's prominent paths and orders. Understanding contemporary Sufism requires a sophisticated analysis of these formative years. Moving beyond a straight account of leaders and movements, Shahzad Bashir weaves a rich history around the depiction of bodily actions by Sufi masters and disciples, primarily in Sufi literature and Persian miniature paintings of the period. Focusing on the Persianate societies of Iran and Central Asia, Bashir explores medieval Sufis' conception of the human body as the primary shuttle between interior (batin) and exterior (zahir) realities. Drawing on literary, historical, and anthropological approaches to corporeality, he studies representations of Sufi bodies in three personal and communal arenas: religious activity in the form of ritual, asceticism, rules of etiquette, and a universal hierarchy of saints; the deep imprint of Persian poetic paradigms on the articulation of love, desire, and gender; and the reputation of Sufi masters for working miracles, which empowered them in all domains of social activity. Bashir's novel perspective illuminates complex relationships between body and soul, body and gender, body and society, and body and cosmos. It highlights love as an overarching, powerful emotion in the making of Sufi communities and situates the body as a critical concern in Sufi thought and practice. Bashir's work ultimately offers a new methodology for extracting historical information from religious narratives, especially those depicting extraordinary and miraculous events. |
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Abizi Amir Kulal antinomian Ardabili asceticism asked at-talibin Awbahi Badakhshi Bahaʾ ad-Din Naqshband Bashiri beauty become beloved Bihzad bodily body body’s Bukhari chain chapter Charkhi context corporeal death dervish desire discussed etiquette Fazlallah Astarabadi fifteenth centuries God’s hadith hagiographic narratives hajj heart Herat human Hurufi Ibid Ibn al-ʿArabi idea interior Iran Islamic Khulasat al-manaqib Khwafi Khwaja Ahrar lineages lives lovers Manqabat Maslak masters and disciples material miracles Muhammad Muslims Naqshband Nishapuri Niʿmatullah Vali Nurbakhsh one’s painting Parsa perform Persianate societies Persianate Sufi person physical practice present Prophet Qasim-i Anvar Rashahat reflected regarding relationship religious representations ritual Safi ad-Din Safi’s Samarqandi samaʿ Sayyid senses shariʿa Shaykh Safi Shihab ad-Din shrine significant Silsilat al-ʿarifin social sources spirit stories Sufi authors Sufi communities Sufi literature Sufi masters Sufi path Sufism texts theme Timurid tion told women Zayn ad-Din zikr ʿAbd ʿAli Hamadani ʿUmar