DOCSLIB.ORG

Female Voices in Sufism

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Female Voices in Sufism UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) Female religious agents in Morocco: Old practices and new perspectives Ouguir, A. Publication date 2013 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Ouguir, A. (2013). Female religious agents in Morocco: Old practices and new perspectives. General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:03 Oct 2021 Female Religious Agents in Morocco: Old Practices and New Perspectives Aziza Ouguir Female Religious Agents in Morocco: Old Practices and New Perspectives ACADEMISCH PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam op gezag van de Rector Magnificus prof. dr. D.C. van den Boom ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties ingestelde commissie, in het openbaar te verdedigen in de Aula der Universiteit op vrijdag 29 november 2013 te 11.00 uur door Aziza Ouguir geboren te Talouine, Marokko Promotores: Prof. dr. mr. R. Peters Prof. dr. F. Sadiqi Co-promotor: Dr. K.V.Q. Vintges Overige leden: Dr. E.A.C. Bartels Prof. dr. M. Ennaji Dr. M.M. Leezenberg Prof. dr. A.C.A.E. Moors Prof. dr. G.A. Wiegers Faculteit der Geesteswetenschappen Table of contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... 4 Preface ........................................................................................................................................ 6 Notes on Transliteration ............................................................................................................. 7 Chapter One: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 9 1-1 General Framework ......................................................................................................... 9 1-2 Sources .......................................................................................................................... 10 1-2.1 Hagiography .................................................................................................................. 11 1-2.2 Fieldwork ...................................................................................................................... 12 1-3 Scientific Research on Muslim Female Saints: A Review ............................................ 16 1-4 Clarification of Concepts and Terminology .................................................................. 19 1-4.1 Sufism ............................................................................................................................ 19 1-4.2 Baraka ............................................................................................................................ 23 1-4.3 Rituals ............................................................................................................................ 25 1-4.4 Embodiment, Agency, Empowerment and Patriarchy .................................................. 27 1-5 Organization of the Thesis ............................................................................................ 35 Chapter Two: Female Voices In Sufism ............................................................................... 37 2-1 The Sufi Path to God ..................................................................................................... 37 2-2 Ribāṭ, Zāwiya and ṭṭarīqa .............................................................................................. 45 2-3 Sufism in Relation to Gender ........................................................................................ 46 2-4 Women’s Mysticism in Islamic History ........................................................................ 52 2-5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 54 Chapter Three: Sufism and Hagiography in Moroccan Context ...................................... 56 3-1 Moroccan Geography and History: A Brief Overview ................................................. 56 3-2 Moroccan Sufism .......................................................................................................... 60 3-2.1 Approaches to Moroccan Sufism .................................................................................. 63 3-2.1.1 Orthodox versus Popular Sufism ............................................................................... 63 3-2.1.2 Sharifism and Maraboutism ....................................................................................... 67 3-2.1.3 Sainthood and Baraka ................................................................................................ 69 3-2.1.4 Gender ....................................................................................................................... 70 3-3 Islamic and Moroccan Hagiography ............................................................................. 71 3-3.1 Islamic Hagiography ..................................................................................................... 71 3-3.2 Moroccan Hagiography ................................................................................................. 74 3-3.2.1 Diversity and Hierarchy of Morrocan Sainthood ...................................................... 77 3-3.2.2 Authenticity ............................................................................................................... 82 3-4 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 84 Chapter Four: Moroccan Female Sainthood ....................................................................... 85 4-1 The Construction of Sainthood ..................................................................................... 85 4-1.1 Piety ............................................................................................................................... 86 4-1.1.1 Initiation ..................................................................................................................... 86 4-1.1.2 Piety in the Domestic Sphere ..................................................................................... 88 4-1.1.3 The Body and Sacredness .......................................................................................... 90 4-1.1.4 Crying ........................................................................................................................ 92 Page 1 1.1.1-4 The Disturbing Marriage ........................................................................................... 94 4-1.2 Learnedness and the Quest for Knowledge ................................................................... 97 4-1.3 Miracles ....................................................................................................................... 100 4-1.4 Al-Jadhb ...................................................................................................................... 102 4-1.5 Social and Political Roles ............................................................................................ 105 4-1.6 Ordinary Sainthood ..................................................................................................... 107 4-2 Women Saints’ Types of Agency ................................................................................ 110 4-2.1 Ethical Self-formation ................................................................................................. 110 4-2.2 Equality Effects and Egalitarian Effects ..................................................................... 111 4-2.3 Ethical Freedom Practices ........................................................................................... 114 4-3 Women Saints and Sufis ............................................................................................. 116 4-3.1 `Azīza al-Saksāwiyya (14th century) .......................................................................... 117 4-3.1.1 Ethical Self-Techniques ........................................................................................... 119 4-3.1.2 Ethical Self-formation as a Freedom Practice ......................................................... 120 4-3.2 `Āyisha al-Idrīsiya (16th century) ............................................................................... 125 4-3.2.1 Ethical Self-techniques ............................................................................................ 127 4-3.2.2 Ethical Self-formation as a Freedom Practice ......................................................... 129 4-3.3 Fāṭima
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Probe Into the History of Hadith
    Published on Al-Islam.org (https://www.al-islam.org) Home > A Probe into the History of Hadith A Probe into the History of Hadith Author(s): Sayyid Murtadha al-'Askari [3] Publisher(s): Bethat Islamic Research Centre (BIRC) Qom - Iran [4] Sayyid Murtadha al-Askari, the renowned scholar, has very ably made a probe into the History of the delicate institution of Hadith and very ably unveiled the picture of the institution of Hadith in such a superb manner that every line and contour of its countenance becomes distinctly clear. His scholarly and unbiased analysis of the subject invites the attention of the Muslims all over the world to view the subject dispassionately and try to differentiate and dissociate the authentic from the unauthentic and fabricated Hadith. In this way it will be a great service to Islam to introduce it in its true colours and contours through the help of reliable and authentic Hadith. Category: Sunni & Shi’a [5] Hadith Sciences [6] Miscellaneous information: A Probe into the History of Hadith Allama Murtadha al-Askari First Published by Islamic Seminary Publications, in Pakistan, in 1979 Re-Published by Foreign Department of Bonyad Be'thatin 1984 Add :Somaye Ave, Between Mofateh and Forsat Tel: 822244-821159 Featured Category: Resources for Further Research [7] Dedication In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful In token of deep admiration for his monumental researching advancement of the cause of Islam, this book is gratefully dedicated to Hujjatul Islam Allama Murtadha al-Askari Words to Remember Have you fully realised what Islam is? It is indeed a religion founded on truth.
    [Show full text]
  • The Question of 'Race' in the Pre-Colonial Southern Sahara
    The Question of ‘Race’ in the Pre-colonial Southern Sahara BRUCE S. HALL One of the principle issues that divide people in the southern margins of the Sahara Desert is the issue of ‘race.’ Each of the countries that share this region, from Mauritania to Sudan, has experienced civil violence with racial overtones since achieving independence from colonial rule in the 1950s and 1960s. Today’s crisis in Western Sudan is only the latest example. However, very little academic attention has been paid to the issue of ‘race’ in the region, in large part because southern Saharan racial discourses do not correspond directly to the idea of ‘race’ in the West. For the outsider, local racial distinctions are often difficult to discern because somatic difference is not the only, and certainly not the most important, basis for racial identities. In this article, I focus on the development of pre-colonial ideas about ‘race’ in the Hodh, Azawad, and Niger Bend, which today are in Northern Mali and Western Mauritania. The article examines the evolving relationship between North and West Africans along this Sahelian borderland using the writings of Arab travellers, local chroniclers, as well as several specific documents that address the issue of the legitimacy of enslavement of different West African groups. Using primarily the Arabic writings of the Kunta, a politically ascendant Arab group in the area, the paper explores the extent to which discourses of ‘race’ served growing nomadic power. My argument is that during the nineteenth century, honorable lineages and genealogies came to play an increasingly important role as ideological buttresses to struggles for power amongst nomadic groups and in legitimising domination over sedentary communities.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Download
    Nisan / The Levantine Review Volume 4 Number 2 (Winter 2015) Identity and Peoples in History Speculating on Ancient Mediterranean Mysteries Mordechai Nisan* We are familiar with a philo-Semitic disposition characterizing a number of communities, including Phoenicians/Lebanese, Kabyles/Berbers, and Ismailis/Druze, raising the question of a historical foundation binding them all together. The ethnic threads began in the Galilee and Mount Lebanon and later conceivably wound themselves back there in the persona of Al-Muwahiddun [Unitarian] Druze. While DNA testing is a fascinating methodology to verify the similarity or identity of a shared gene pool among ostensibly disparate peoples, we will primarily pursue our inquiry using conventional historical materials, without however—at the end—avoiding the clues offered by modern science. Our thesis seeks to substantiate an intuition, a reading of the contours of tales emanating from the eastern Mediterranean basin, the Levantine area, to Africa and Egypt, and returning to Israel and Lebanon. The story unfolds with ancient biblical tribes of Israel in the north of their country mixing with, or becoming Lebanese Phoenicians, travelling to North Africa—Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya in particular— assimilating among Kabyle Berbers, later fusing with Shi’a Ismailis in the Maghreb, who would then migrate to Egypt, and during the Fatimid period evolve as the Druze. The latter would later flee Egypt and return to Lebanon—the place where their (biological) ancestors had once dwelt. The original core group was composed of Hebrews/Jews, toward whom various communities evince affinity and identity today with the Jewish people and the state of Israel.
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline / 500 to 1300 / MOROCCO
    Timeline / 500 to 1300 / MOROCCO Date Country | Description 533 A.D. Morocco The Vandals take refuge in Mauritania Tingitana (Northern Morocco in Antiquity). 544 A.D. Morocco The Goths attempt to occupy the town of Sebta. 578 A.D. Morocco Byzantium puts down the Berber revolt that flared up after local chieftains are murdered by Sergius, Byzantine Governor of Tripoli. 681 A.D. Morocco ‘Uqba (Okba) ibn Nafi reaches Sebta, Tangiers then Walili (Ancient Volubilis) before going on to the town of Nfis in the Haouz and Igli in the Souss. 711 A.D. Morocco Tarik ibn Ziyad crosses the Straits of Gibraltar, defeats King Roderick of Spain and takes Córdoba and Toledo. 740 A.D. Morocco Northern Morocco is shaken by the Kharijite revolt lead by Maysara al-Matghari. 757 A.D. Morocco Issa ibn Yazid al-Assouad founds the town of Sijilmassa at Tafilalet, the great desert port on the gold route. 788 A.D. Morocco Idris ibn ‘Abdallah (Idris I) takes up residence at Walili, then in the Andalusian Quarter (Adwat al-Andalousiyyin) in Fez, which he founded on the right bank of the Wadi Fez. 808 A.D. Morocco Idris II (son of Idris I) founds the town of al-Aliya in the Kairouan Quarter (Adwat al- Qayrawaniyyin) on the left bank of the Wadi Fez. 836 A.D. Morocco A moribund Idrisid Morocco vacillates between the Umayyads of al-Andalus and the Fatimids of Ifriqiya for 27 years. 857 A.D. Morocco Date Country | Description Fatima al-Fihriya, daughter of a Kairouanese man living in Morocco, founds the Qarawiyin Mosque in Fez.
    [Show full text]
  • CA Students Urge Assembly Members to Pass AB
    May 26, 2021 The Honorable Members of the California State Assembly State Capitol Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Thousands of CA Public School Students Strongly Urge Support for AB 101 Dear Members of the Assembly, We are a coalition of California high school and college students known as Teach Our History California. Made up of the youth organizations Diversify Our Narrative and GENup, we represent 10,000 youth leaders from across the State fighting for change. Our mission is to ensure that students across California high schools have meaningful opportunities to engage with the vast, diverse, and rich histories of people of color; and thus, we are in deep support of AB101 which will require high schools to provide ethnic studies starting in academic year 2025-26 and students to take at least one semester of an A-G approved ethnic studies course to graduate starting in 2029-30. Our original petition made in support of AB331, linked here, was signed by over 26,000 CA students and adult allies in support of passing Ethnic Studies. Please see appended to this letter our letter in support of AB331, which lists the names of all our original petition supporters. We know AB101 has the capacity to have an immense positive impact on student education, but also on student lives as a whole. For many students, our communities continue to be systematically excluded from narratives presented to us in our classrooms. By passing AB101, we can change the precedent of exclusion and allow millions of students to learn the histories of their peoples.
    [Show full text]
  • DIPBOOK2021.Pdf
    MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS BRUNEI DARUSSALAM DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR LIST 2021 Brunei Darussalam Diplomatic and Consular List 2021 is published by MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS Jalan Subok Bandar Seri Begawan BD2710 Brunei Darussalam Telephone : (673) 2261177 / 1291 / 1292 / 1293 / 1294 / 1295 Fax : (673) 2261740 (Protocol & Consular Affairs Department) Email : [email protected] Website : www.mfa.gov.bn All information is correct as of 18 August 2021 Any amendments can be reported to the Protocol and Consular Affairs Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Brunei Darussalam. Email: [email protected] Use QR Code to download an electronic version for this book Printed by Print Plus Sdn Bhd Brunei Darussalam TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................... 4 DIPLOMATIC MISSIONS ................................................................................................ 1 AFGHANISTAN ............................................................................................................... 2 ALGERIA ....................................................................................................................... 3 ANGOLA ........................................................................................................................ 4 ARGENTINA .................................................................................................................. 5 AUSTRALIA ..................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Berber Identity: a Double Helix of Islam and War by Alvin Okoreeh
    The Berber Identity: A Double Helix of Islam and War By Alvin Okoreeh Mezquita de Córdoba, Interior. Muslim Spain is characterized by a myriad of sophisticated and complex dynamics that invariably draw from a foundation rooted in an ethnically diverse populace made up of Arabs, Berbers, muwalladun, Mozarebs, Jews, and Christians. According to most scholars, the overriding theme for this period in the Iberian Peninsula is an unprecedented level of tolerance. The actual level of tolerance experienced by its inhabitants is debatable and relative to time, however, commensurate with the idea of tolerance is the premise that each of the aforementioned groups was able to leave a distinct mark on the era of Muslim dominance in Spain. The Arabs, with longstanding ties to supremacy in Damascus and Baghdad exercised authority as the conqueror and imbued al-Andalus with culture and learning until the fall of the caliphate in 1031. The Berbers were at times allies with the Arabs and Christians, were often enemies with everyone on the Iberian Peninsula, and in the times of the taifas, Almoravid and Almohad dynasties, were the rulers of al-Andalus. The muwalladun, subjugated by Arab perceptions of a dubious conversion to Islam, were mired in compulsory ineptitude under the pretense that their conversion to Islam would yield a more prosperous life. The Mozarebs and Jews, referred to as “people of the book,” experienced a wide spectrum of societal conditions ranging from prosperity to withering persecution. This paper will argue that the Berbers, by virtue of cultural assimilation and an identity forged by militant aggressiveness and religious zealotry, were the most influential ethno-religious group in Muslim Spain from the time of the initial Muslim conquest of Spain by Berber-led Umayyad forces to the last vestige of Muslim dominance in Spain during the time of the Almohads.
    [Show full text]
  • La Patronymie Dans Les Dairas De Timezrit, Sidi-Aich Et Chemini
    République Algérienne Démocratique et Populaire Ministère de l’enseignement supérieur et de la recherche scientifique UNIVERSITE MOULOUD MAMMERI, TIZI OUZOU FACULTE DES LETTRES ET DES LANGUES DEPARTEMENT DE LANGUE ET CULTURE AMAZIGHES THESE DE DOCTORAT Spécialité : Langue et Culture Amazighes Option : Linguistique THEME LA PATRONYMIE DANS LES DAIRAS DE TIMEZRIT, SIDI-AICH ET CHEMINI Etude morphologique et sémantique Présentée par Mustapha TIDJET Devant le jury Haddadou Mohand Akli (Professeur, U. de Tizi-Ouzou) ..................................Président Cheriguen Foudil (Professeur, U. de Bejaïa) ..............................................................Rapporteur Nait Zerrad Kamal (Professeur, INALCO) ..................................................................... Co-Rapporteur Ahmed-Zaid Chertouk Malika (Professeur, U. de Tizi-Ouzou) .....................Examinatrice Benramdane Farid (MC « A », U. de Mostaganem) .............................................Examinateur Imarazen Moussa (MC « A », U. de Tizi-Ouzou) .....................................................Examinateur Tizi-Ouzou, janvier 2013 Résumé : Malgré son intérêt évident, l’onomastique est le parent pauvre des études berbères. Dans cette thèse on trouvera une ébauche à l’étude des patronymes algériens à travers une analyse d’un corpus, d’environs 3300 unités, constitué dans trois daïras de la vallée de la Soummam. On y trouvera notamment les catégories sémantiques et les catégories syntaxiques qui sont pourvoyeuses des patronymes. D’un autre côté, l’étude formelle nous a permis de recenser, en plus des différentes formes possibles (simples, dérivées et complexes), les plus importants schèmes constitutifs des patronymes. Agzul : Ɣas akken tezmer ad d-awi lfayda meqqren, tasnisemt d taneggarut des uḥric ussnan n tmaziɣt. Tazrawt-a d anekcum ɣer uzraw n tnekwiwin n Lezzayer. Ayen ara neg s uslaḍ n yiwen n uɣbalu, yuddsen s wazal n 3300 n tayunin, i d-negmer seg krad n yiwinasen n temnaṭ n Ssumam.
    [Show full text]
  • Look Back Through the Millennia and You'll Find Women in Power Even in Humanity's Earliest Days. Here's a Look at Seven Po
    LHOSSINE/CREATIVE COMMONS NATIONAL PALACE MUSEUM / PUBLIC DOMAIN CREATIVE COMMONS GUSTAVO JERONIMO/CREATIVE COMMONS GEVORK NAZARYAN/CREATIVE COMMONS INDIA POST Look back through the millennia and you’ll find women Women in power even in humanity’s earliest days. Here’s a look at seven powerful queens and in their accomplishments. PUBLIC DOMAIN History WOMEN IN HISTORY | AFRICAN LEGEND Dihya, Berber Warrior Queen Dihya was born into the Jarawa Zenata tribe in the 7th century and eventually ruled a free Berber state in north Africa that stretched from the Aures Mountains to the oasis of Gadames. She is usually described as very tall with a lot of hair, which may mean she wore her hair long and in dread- locks. The Ancient History Encyclopedia says she was a black, African queen who dressed as royals of ancient Numidia in a loose tunic or robe, sometimes belted, with sandals. FIGHTING THE ARABS Dihya was also referred to in Arabic sources as al Kahina, meaning the soothsayer, because of her alleged ability to foresee the future. She fought off the armies of the Umayyad Dynasty, led by Hasan bin al-Nu’man, who marched from Egypt and met her near Meskiana in 698 (modern day Algeria). It’s said she beat him so badly that he fled to Libya for five years. However, Hasan eventually returned and, helped by a captured officer, defeated Dihya near Tabarka in modern Tunisia near the Algerian border. History dis- agrees on whether she died a warrior’s death in battle or took poison to prevent capture, but it likely occurred in the late 690s or early 700s.
    [Show full text]
  • Women in Islamic State Propaganda
    Contents 1. Key findings ............................................................................................................... 3 2. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 5 3. Methodology ............................................................................................................. 6 4. Islamic State narratives and incentives ..................................................................... 7 4.1. The caliphate: a shield and safe haven for Sunni Muslims ....................................... 7 4.2. Hijra: a religious obligation ....................................................................................... 8 4.3. Finding roots in a jihadi feminism ........................................................................... 11 4.4. A new wave of jihadi torchbearers ......................................................................... 13 5. Life for women in the caliphate .............................................................................. 14 5.1. Well-defined parameters: rules and regulations .................................................... 14 5.2. Islamic State women: mothers first and foremost ................................................. 20 5.3. Patient and steadfast supporters ............................................................................ 21 5.4. Women in combat: the revival of the early Islamic mujahida ................................ 22 5.5. Women and education ...........................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 33(2007)
    The Institute of Asian and African Studies The Max Schloessinger Memorial Foundation O print from JERUSALEM STUDIES IN ARABIC AND ISLAM 33(2007) Uri Rubin The hands of AbuLahab and the gazelle of the Ka,ba THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES JSAI 33 (2007) THE HANDS OF ABU LAHAB AND THE GAZELLE OF THE KA,BA Uri Rubin Tel Aviv University Qur-an111:1 deals with AbuLahab, one of Muh. ammad's paternal un- cles, and a prominent gure among the BanuHashimof the Quraysh. Verse 1 places a curse upon his two hands: Tabbat yadaAbLahab... \Perish the two hands of AbuLahab..." (the form tabbat is usually explained as du,a-, \imprecation"). Various interpretations were put forward to explain such a harsh attack on Muh. ammad's uncle. The most common asbabal-nuzul tradition says that when AbuLahab heard some of Muh. ammad's rst public sermons he said: Tabban laka (\curse be upon you"), whereupon the sura was revealed. But from this neat story it is still not clear why the Qur-anturns to AbuLahab's hands, in- stead of keeping to AbuLahab's own style and saying: Tabban li-AbLa- hab. Other interpretations provide an answer to the problem by taking the \hands" literally and by describing various physical acts which Abu Lahab supposedly committed against Muh. ammad and his followers. One exceptional tradition connects this Qur-anicchapter not so much to AbuLahab's enmity to Muh. ammad as to his devotion to the worship of the goddess al-,Uzzawhose sanctuary was outside Mecca, in Nakhla.
    [Show full text]
  • Wives of the Prophet.Pdf
    Do Now- draft book Name as many people from any religion who are….. Male Female Levels Level 5 – To explain religious understanding of important women in Islam Level 6 – To explain the significance of the women to Muslims Level 7 – To synthesise contextual understanding of the input of females within the religion of Islam. C/L Friday, 12 June 2020 Important women: The wives of the Prophet Learning objective: To examine the significance of important women in Islam Bridges : Making links Read: The wives of the prophet • Together the wives of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) are known as the ‘Mothers of the Believers’ or ‘Mothers of the faithful’. • The prophet had thirteen wives. Of his 13 wives, only two gave him children - Khadija and Maria. • He married Khadijah, Sawda, Aishah, Hafsah, Zaynab , Hind (known as Umm Salama ), Zaynab, Maymuna, and Juwayriyah who were Arab; six of them were from Quraysh, and the rest were from other tribes. • He married Safiyah and Rayhanah were from Jewish tribes. Asma and Amra were also married. Read The wives of the prophet • At the time of his death in 632 the Prophet left behind nine wives. The wives of the Prophet are called “Mothers of the Faithful” (Umm al- Muminin) in the Quran ( 33:6 ) and forbidden in marriage to other men after the Prophet's death ( 33:53 ). They are regarded as moral exemplars for Muslim women. • Aishah and Umm Salama in particular reported numerous hadiths from Muhammad and thus played a decisive role in the shaping of the Sunnah (practice of Islam) Read Khadijah, Sawdah and Aisha • Read the information on three of the wives attached to this lesson.
    [Show full text]