DOCSLIB.ORG

Extra Chapter Levels of Religion

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Extra Chapter Levels of Religion Levels of Religion Ron Geaves Chapter Outline Sikhism Hinduism The pragmatic or Kismetic realm Remedies and rituals The Dharmik realm Transcendental realm Qaumic Panthic Charisma and institutionalization Conclusion Discussion points Bibliography n his classical text, Sufi sm, fi rst published in 1950, A. J. Arberry writes that Sufi sm Ihad gone into decline by the end of the Middle Ages as a result of degeneration from its mystical origins to a corrupted form of religion consisting of tomb worship and a number of popular practices prevalent among rural people (Arberry, 1956). He states: It was inevitable, as soon as legends of miracles became attached to the names of the great mystics, that the credulous masses should applaud imposture more than true devotion; the cult of saints, against which orthodox Islam ineffectually protested, promoted ignorance and superstition, and confounded charlatanry with lofty speculation (1956, p. 119) www.bloomsbury.com/the-study-of-religion-2nd-edition-9781780938400 © George D. Chryssides and Ron Geaves, 2007, 2014 The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Bloomsbury THE STUDY OF RELIGION Although it is possible to challenge Arberry’s main thesis by demonstrating that a number of Sufi mystics and their subsequent institutional orders have continued to appear in various parts of the Muslim world until the present time, of more importance to the theme of this chapter is the distinction that Arberry appears to be making between levels of religion: with a ‘high’ mysticism, on one hand and ‘low’ popular beliefs and practices, on the other (1956, p. 121). Arberry criticizes later Sufi sm for its lack of rationality, claims of miraculous powers, use of charms and amulets and associates it negatively with ‘cabbalism and witchcraft’. He appears to suggest that this division is most apparent in rural areas where ‘every village or group of villages acquired its local saint, to be revered and supported during his lifetime, worshipped and capitalised after his death’ (1956, p. 121). As a result of this focus on mystics and their poetry by Oriental scholars versed in ancient languages, the study of Sufi sm has seemingly suggested that Sufi sm itself was a long extinct tradition that fl ourished in Persia, Turkey and North Africa during a particular period of Islamic history and was represented by exceptional men and women who achieved high mystical awareness and expressed in ecstatic poetical forms (Geaves, 2000, p. 3). Living Sufi traditions, such as those prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, and practised by millions of adherents were therefore perceived as a form of religion that was left over after the decline of the classical tradition. Such an approach to Sufi sm not only distorts the living reality and complexity of contemporary Muslim belief and practice but it provides us with the problem of a value judgement being made between so-called high and low forms of religion. SUFISM lthough most commonly defi ned as Islamic mysticism, most Muslim Sufi s do not consider Athemselves to be mystical in any sense. To complicate matters, a large number of the Western adherents defi ne themselves as Sufi s but do not consider themselves to be Muslims. Most Muslims regard Sufi sm as simply the inner dimension of Islam that must accompany the exoteric domain of obedience to the shari’a (Islamic law). On the other hand, Western adherents often avoid the outer manifestations of Islam completely, preferring to adopt a form of ‘universal Sufi sm’ that is closer to the perennial wisdom propounded by universalists such as Aldous Huxley. Even in the fi rst half of the twentieth century, Western individuals were attracted to Sufi sm through the efforts of high-profi le fi gures such as Idries Shah (1924–96) or Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882–1927) who came to Europe and North America to teach. These movements were highly eclectic themselves and lent themselves to the introduction of a different kind of Sufi sm that placed itself within an unfolding world mystical revelation that drew upon Gnostic, neo-Platonic, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu infl uences in addition to Islam. Within the world of Islam, Sufi sm is usually defi ned as formal allegiance to one of the many tariqas (a school or path of guidance) but there are nevertheless millions of traditional Muslims whose beliefs and practices have been shaped by the countless saints and pious followers of the www.bloomsbury.com/the-study-of-religion-2nd-edition-9781780938400 © George D. Chryssides and Ron Geaves, 2007, 2014 The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Bloomsbury LEVELS OF RELIGION tariqas. The totality of this body of Muslims, including the tariqas which remain at their heart, prefers to be known as the Ahl as-Sunnat wa Jamaat. This title refers to the community of Sunni Muslims and indicates that the followers of the tariqas and their sympathizers see themselves as traditional Sunni Muslims as opposed to the new doctrines of the Wahhabi-inspired movements and their counter-claims to Sunni orthodoxy. Thus any study of Sufi sm must acknowledge two areas of complexity. The fi rst of these is that Sufi sm remains a highly visible player with regard to what defi nes orthodoxy in the Muslim world. The second concerns certain imbalances or misconceptions that still exist in the traditional methods of studying Sufi sm in the West. Muslims who have an allegiance to the Sufi tariqa feel that they have been marginalized, fi rst through misrepresentation in scholarly texts and second, through the vehement attacks of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Islamic reform movements. In the twentieth century, the independence of many Muslim nations created an internal struggle over what forms of government should exist in the newly created states. This struggle has given rise to the Islamic Movement in which a variety of groups are fi ghting to establish societies based upon the tenets and laws of Islam rather than imported Western models of governance. Once again Islam has come to symbolize terror, devastation and a threat to world peace. Sufi sm, on the whole, has escaped this latter distortion of Muslim culture and tradition. The Western media frequently represents the externals of Islam as an oppression of individual freedom but usually fails to comprehend the inner loyalties or spirit of the faith. In this context the continuing vitality of Sufi sm in the Muslim world is rarely mentioned. However, although Sufi sm is not branded with the latter distortion in regard to terrorism or extremism it has suffered considerably from academic and scholarly Orientalist approaches as much or more than any other eastern religious phenomenon. It could be argued that it is the desire for the exotic arising out of the ‘mysterious east’ that has always distorted traditional scholarly approaches to the study of Sufi sm. Eastern mysticism has often been the Orientalist’s paradise. The classic textual example for this approach is Fitzgerald’s translation of Omar Khayyam that in many respects represents the traditional method to the study of Sufi sm by the translation of the poetry of signifi cant Sufi mystics into a variety of European languages. As a consequence of this approach and its focus on long dead mystics, Sufi sm was turned into a virtually extinct tradition which was perceived to have fl ourished in Persia, Turkey and India during a particular period of Islamic history and was represented by exceptional men and women who achieved high mystical awareness and expressed it in ecstatic poetry. Later studies developed this approach by tending to focus on Sufi sm as an historical phenomenon, tracing its origins, rise, infl uence and subsequent decline. This scholarly focus on Sufi sm as a neo-Platonic mystical theosophy has served to distort the living reality of the complexity of contemporary traditional Muslim belief and practice. On the other hand, anthropologists have focused on case studies of cults formed around tomb shrines and eclectic practices which enter ‘orthodox’ Islam from rural societies in the Muslim hinterland. In doing so they have failed to acknowledge the unity of perception among traditional Muslims that links the tombs, saintly lineages, rural traditions, living saints and the network of tariqas which include the great mystic poets among their historic founders. It is this unity of allegiance which defi nes itself increasingly as Ahl as-Sunnat wa-Jamaat in an attempt to position itself as normative Islam. There are signs that these distorted approaches to the study of Sufi sm are beginning to change and that scholars like Schimmel (1985), Werbner (1998), Westerlund and Rosander (1998) and Geaves www.bloomsbury.com/the-study-of-religion-2nd-edition-9781780938400 © George D. Chryssides and Ron Geaves, 2007, 2014 The Study of Religion: An Introduction to Key Ideas and Methods. London: Bloomsbury THE STUDY OF RELIGION (2004) are beginning to re-examine Sufi sm as a vibrant living tradition still existing at the heart of traditional Islam. Suggested reading Burckhart, T. (1990), An Introduction to Sufi sm. Northampton: Aquarian Press. Geaves, R. A. (2000), The Sufi s of Britain. Cardiff: Cardiff Academic Press. Lings, M. (1995), What is Sufi sm. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society. Nicholson, R. (1989), The Mystics of Islam. Harmondsworth: Arkana. Rizvi, S. A. A. (1997), A History of Sufi sm in India Vol.1. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal. Gellner elaborates on Arberry’s suggestion that the form of Islam based on popular beliefs and practices is found mainly in rural areas, and provides a sociological analysis in which Islam can be divided into rural and urban forms with two sets of characteristics. The latter form is marked by strict monotheism, puritanism, stress on scriptural revelation and therefore on literacy, egalitarianism among the believers and consequently the absence of human mediation and its accompanying hierarchy, a minimization of elaborate ritual or mysticism and a focus on sobriety and moderation, and fi nally a stress on the observance of rules rather than emotional states.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Institution of the Akal Takht: the Transformation of Authority in Sikh History
    religions Article The Institution of the Akal Takht: The Transformation of Authority in Sikh History Gurbeer Singh Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; [email protected] Abstract: The Akal Takht is considered to be the central seat of authority in the Sikh tradition. This article uses theories of legitimacy and authority to explore the validity of the authority and legitimacy of the Akal Takht and its leaders throughout time. Starting from the initial institution of the Akal Takht and ending at the Akal Takht today, the article applies Weber’s three types of legitimate authority to the various leaderships and custodianships throughout Sikh history. The article also uses Berger and Luckmann’s theory of the symbolic universe to establish the constant presence of traditional authority in the leadership of the Akal Takht. Merton’s concept of group norms is used to explain the loss of legitimacy at certain points of history, even if one or more types of Weber’s legitimate authority match the situation. This article shows that the Akal Takht’s authority, as with other political religious institutions, is in the reciprocal relationship between the Sikh population and those in charge. This fluidity in authority is used to explain and offer a solution on the issue of authenticity and authority in the Sikh tradition. Keywords: Akal Takht; jathedar; Sikh institutions; Sikh Rehat Maryada; Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC); authority; legitimacy Citation: Singh, Gurbeer. 2021. The Institution of the Akal Takht: The 1. Introduction Transformation of Authority in Sikh History. Religions 12: 390. https:// The Akal Takht, originally known as the Akal Bunga, is the seat of temporal and doi.org/10.3390/rel12060390 spiritual authority of the Sikh tradition.
    [Show full text]
  • Navtej Purewal, Dr Virinder Kalra and Their Interdisciplinary Team, Funded by the Religion and Society Programme
    Headline Shrines in India and Pakistan demonstrate shared practices of Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims Summary Gugga Pir (Mairhi) near Patiala, India, where tombs Modern scholars and politicians tend to assume that and folk and spiritual music attract hundreds of the ‘world religions’ are separate and bounded worshippers each week entities with their own unique institutions and texts. State policies reinforce this ‘reality’ by relying upon tools of enumeration and labeling to perpetuate religious difference. The partition of colonial India in 1947 and the mass expulsion of Muslims from East Punjab and a similar movement of Hindus and Sikhs from West Punjab, was an extreme example of the accentuation of religious difference. What this research in the region of Punjab (Pakistan and India) shows, however, is that despite all this, many holy places, shrines and tombs of saints (pirs) are regularly used by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. This research project was conducted between 2008 and 2010 by Dr Navtej Purewal, Dr Virinder Kalra and their interdisciplinary team, funded by the Religion and Society Programme. Fieldwork took place at a mixture of mainstream and marginal shrine sites in Punjab, and used a combination of surveys, participant observation, ethnography and interviews, as well as study of oratory and music such as qawalli, kirtan and dhadi. The team found that various forms of social exclusion and everyday necessity are addressed through spiritual idioms. In ‘DIY’ shrines and practices the mixing of symbols is common, and self-run rituals and spiritual services exhibit a considerable freedom of interpretation and practice which empowers dalit/low caste groups and women.
    [Show full text]
  • Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia
    Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:29 24 May 2016 Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia This book offers a fresh approach to the study of religion in modern South Asia. It uses a series of case studies to explore the development of religious ideas and practices, giving students an understanding of the social, politi- cal and historical context. It looks at some familiar themes in the study of religion, such as deity, authoritative texts, myth, worship, teacher traditions and caste, and some of the key ways in which Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Sikhism in South Asia have been shaped in the modern period. The book points to the diversity of ways of looking at religious traditions and considers the impact of gender and politics, and the way religion itself is variously understood. Jacqueline Suthren Hirst is Senior Lecturer in South Asian Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. Her publications include Sita’s Story and Śaṃkara’s Advaita Vedānta: A Way of Teaching. John Zavos is Senior Lecturer in South Asian Studies at the University of Manchester, UK. He is the author of The Emergence of Hindu Nationalism in India. Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:29 24 May 2016 Religious Traditions in Modern South Asia Jacqueline Suthren Hirst and John Zavos Downloaded by [University of Defence] at 01:29 24 May 2016 First published 2011 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2011 Jacqueline Suthren Hirst and John Zavos The right of Jacqueline Suthren Hirst and John Zavos to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    [Show full text]
  • RE Unit Spring Festivals: What Is Vaisakhi and How Is It Celebrated?
    RE Unit Spring Festivals: What is Vaisakhi and how is it celebrated? Photo courtesy of (Birmingham Culture@flickr com) - granted under creative commons licence - attribution How to use this workbook When you are working through the questions in this workbook, remember: 1. To write your answers in your best handwriting in your home learning / exercise / notebook. Don’t try to answer the questions in boxes in the workbook. 2. “Blue box is book” = The blue boxes are there to show you what to write / say and how to set out your work / ideas. Anything in the blue boxes is what you write in your book. Don’t write the black, write the blue – but without drawing the box round it! 3. When you are answering reading comprehension questions, you should always answer in complete thoughts (full sentences) and use the exact words from the text to prove your answer. The blue boxes will show you how… 1 RE: What is Vaisakhi and how is it celebrated? (Workbook) RE Unit Spring Festivals: What is Vaisakhi and how is it celebrated? Learning Overview Lesson Lesson Question You will learn: 1. What is Vaisakhi? Who celebrates Vaisakhi. When Vaisakhi is celebrated. Where Vaisakhi is celebrated. When Vaisakhi started. Why Vaisakhi is such an important festival for Sikhs. 2. Who was Guru Gobind Singh? Who the Sikh Gurus were. Who Guru Gobund Singh was. How Guru Gobind Singh made Vaisakhi a special festival for Sikhs. 3. What is the Khalsa and why is it important to What the Khalsa is. Sikhs? Why the Khalsa was formed.
    [Show full text]
  • Sacred Symbol As Mobilizing Ideology: the North Indian Search for a "Hindu" Community Author(S): Sandria B
    Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History Sacred Symbol as Mobilizing Ideology: The North Indian Search for a "Hindu" Community Author(s): Sandria B. Freitag Reviewed work(s): Source: Comparative Studies in Society and History, Vol. 22, No. 4 (Oct., 1980), pp. 597-625 Published by: Cambridge University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/178470 . Accessed: 30/11/2011 07:43 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Cambridge University Press and Society for Comparative Studies in Society and History are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Comparative Studies in Society and History. http://www.jstor.org Sacred Symbol as Mobilizing Ideology: The North Indian Search for a "Hindu" community SANDRIA B. FREITAG Mary Baldwin College Always have Indians identified themselves by their caste, by their ancestral village: "Our family were Khatris from the West Punjab countryside." "Murud, at one time a fairly prosperous village, is my native place."' In the late nineteenth century, however, an important new process of forging group identities which transcended these local attributions came to characterize South Asian social history.2 This was in part prompted by the efforts of an alien British administration to identify the constituent units in Indian society.
    [Show full text]
  • Fairs & Festivals, Part VII-B, Vol-XIV, Rajasthan
    PRG. 172 B (N) 1,000 CENSUS OF INDIA 1961 VOLUME XIV .RAJASTHAN PART VII-B FAIRS & FESTIVALS c. S. GUPTA OF THE INDIAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICE Superintendent of Census Operations, Rajasthan 1966 PREFACE Men are by their nature fond of festivals and as social beings they are also fond of congregating, gathe­ ring together and celebrating occasions jointly. Festivals thus culminate in fairs. Some fairs and festivals are mythological and are based on ancient traditional stories of gods and goddesses while others commemorate the memories of some illustrious pers<?ns of distinguished bravery or. persons with super-human powers who are now reverenced and idealised and who are mentioned in the folk lore, heroic verses, where their exploits are celebrated and in devotional songs sung in their praise. Fairs and festivals have always. been important parts of our social fabric and culture. While the orthodox celebrates all or most of them the common man usually cares only for the important ones. In the pages that follow an attempt is made to present notes on some selected fairs and festivals which are particularly of local importance and are characteristically Rajasthani in their character and content. Some matter which forms the appendices to this book will be found interesting. Lt. Col. Tod's fascinating account of the festivals of Mewar will take the reader to some one hundred fifty years ago. Reproductions of material printed in the old Gazetteers from time to time give an idea about the celebrations of various fairs and festivals in the erstwhile princely States. Sarva Sbri G.
    [Show full text]
  • Gaining Authority and Legitimacy: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Golden Temple C. 1920–2000 by Gurveen Kaur K
    Gaining Authority and Legitimacy: Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and the Golden Temple c. 1920–2000 by Gurveen Kaur Khurana A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Anthropology and History) in The University of Michigan 2019 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Farina Mir, Co-Chair Professor Mrinalini Sinha, Co-Chair Associate Professor William Glover Professor Paul C. Johnson Professor Webb Keane Gurveen Kaur Khurana [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5452-9968 © Gurveen Kaur Khurana 2019 DEDICATION To Samarth, Ozzie and Papa ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is only a part of the journey that began more than ten years ago, and there are many that have made it possible for me to get here. I would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their support along the way. My greatest debt is to my dissertation advisors Mrinalini Sinha and Farina Mir. Mrinalini has supported me through out and has always been a source of intellectual support and more. She has allowed me the freedom to grow and gain from her vast knowledge, while being patient with me finding my way. There are no words that can express my gratitude to her for all that she has done. Farina Mir’s rigor sets high standards for us all and will guide my way over the years. The rest of my committee, Webb Keane, William Glover and Paul Johnson have all been wonderful with their time and support through this dissertation writing. My deepest thanks also to Dilip Menon, Shahid Amin, Sunil Kumar and Neeladri Bhattacharya for the early intellectual training in historical thinking and methodology.
    [Show full text]
  • The Nirankari Sikhs (John C.B
    1 ! .1 i S'» ■ f - The Nirankari Sikhs (John C.B. Webster) ; John C. B. W ebster THE NIRANKARI SIKHS BY THE SAME AUTHOR The Study of History and College History Teaching (Editor) History for College Students (Editor) History and Contemporary India (Editor) Popular Religion in the Punjab Today (Editc.' The Christian Community and Change in Nineteenth Century North India An Introduction to History THE NIRANKARI SIKHS John C. B. W ebster On behalf of THE CHRISTIAN INSTITUTE OF SIKH STUDIES BATALA © John C. B. Webster, 1979 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission First published 1979 by THE MACMILLAN COMPANY OF INDIA LIMITED Delhi Bombay Calcutta Madras Associated companies throughout the world on behalf o f The Christian Institute of Sikh Studies, Batala SBN 33390 317 X Published by S. G. Wasani for The Macmillan Company of India Limited and printed by T. K. Sengupta at Macmillan India Press, Madras 600002 To the colleagues, students, and friends with whom I have been associated through Baring Union Christian College and The Christian Institute of Sikh Studies 1963-1976 ! T •f i I i Contents < f Preface ix i 1 Introduction 1 i f 2 The N ineteenth Century 9 } Baba Dayal and the Origin of the Nirankaris 9 j Developments under Baba Darbara Singh and j Sahib Rattaji 11 | The Nirankaris and the Anand Marriage Act 16 j Conclusion IS I 3 The Consolidation of Tradition, 1909-1947 22 Nirankari Balak Jatha and Nirankari Bhujangi Sevak Jatha 23 The Recording of Nirankari History 24 Defining a Theological Position 30 Internal Tensions and the Origins of the Sant Nirankaris 32 Conclusion 35 ! 4 The Partition Crisis and A fter, 1947-1976 39 I Reconstruction 40 1 Nirankaris and Sikh History 43 ! Conclusion 49 | i 5 The N irankaris Today 52 Description 52 Challenges 56 7 A ppendices 65 A Journal of the Rev.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyright © and Moral Rights for This Phd Thesis Are Retained by the Author And/Or Other Copyright Owners. a Copy Can Be Downlo
    Ahmad, Shazia (2015) A new dispensation in Islam : the Ahmadiyya and the law in Colonial India, 1872 to 1939. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London. http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/20372 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this PhD Thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This PhD Thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this PhD Thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the PhD Thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full PhD Thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD PhD Thesis, pagination. A New Dispensation in Islam: the Ahmadiyya and the Law in Colonial India, 1872 to 1939 Shazia Ahmad Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD 2015 Department History SOAS, University of London 1 Declaration for SOAS MPhil thesis I have read and understood regulation 17.9 of the Regulations for students of the SOAS, University of London concerning plagiarism. I undertake that all the material presented for examination is my own work and has not been written for me, in whole or in part, by any other person. I also undertake that any quotation or paraphrase from the published or unpublished work of another person has been duly acknowledged in the work which I present for examination.
    [Show full text]
  • Religion and the Study of Social Memory
    Religion and the Study of Social Memory TUULA SAKARANAHO University of Helsinki Abstract In recent decades memory studies have gained great popularity in the humanities and social sciences, and not without cause. At least since the 1980s we have witnessed something which has been called an international memory boom. The article first looks at some ex- planations as to why memory fascinates people of our own time; it then focuses on questions as to how we can study religion from the point of view of social memory. The discussion is based on ideas de- rived from the French sociologists Maurice Halbwachs and Danièle Hervieu-Léger, and is structured in terms of recollection, events, narratives, communities and tradition. Finally, I reflect upon the criticism directed against the theory of religion as a chain of memory in the study of world religions, the latter of course being one of the main tasks of our discipline. In the concluding remarks, I comment on the simultaneous rise during recent decades of religion and of a worldwide interest in memory: both address the need to belong to and be part of something larger. Keywords: religion, social memory, recollection, events, narratives, com- munities, tradition Memory studies have in recent decades gained great popularity in humani- ties and social sciences, not without cause. At least since the 1980s we have been witnessing something which has been called the ‘commemorative fever’ (Misztal 2003, 2), the ‘obsession with memory’ (Huyssen 1995, 3), or the ‘passion for memory’ (Nora 1996). Along with this memory boom (Blight 2009), in humanities and social sciences there has developed ‘a well established and burgeoning interest in the social nature of memory’ (Mid- dleton & Edwards 1997, 2; see also Radstone 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Religious and Political Dimensions of the Kartarpur Corridor: Exploring the Global Politics Behind the Lost Heritage of the Darbar Sahib
    religions Article Religious and Political Dimensions of the Kartarpur Corridor: Exploring the Global Politics Behind the Lost Heritage of the Darbar Sahib Tejpaul Singh Bainiwal Department of Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA; [email protected] Received: 17 September 2020; Accepted: 27 October 2020; Published: 29 October 2020 Abstract: The 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak and the construction of the Kartarpur Corridor has helped the Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur in Pakistan gain global attention. In 2019, thousands of Sikhs embarked on a pilgrimage to Pakistan to take part in this momentous occasion. However, conversations surrounding modern renovations, government control of sacred sites, and the global implications of the corridor have been missing in the larger dialogue. Using historical methods and examining the Darbar Sahib through the context of the 1947 partition and the recent construction of the Kartarpur Corridor, this paper departs from the metanarrative surrounding the Darbar Sahib and explores the impact that Sikhs across the globe had on the “bridge of peace”, the politics behind the corridor, and how access to sacred Sikh spaces in Pakistan was only partially regained. Keywords: Kartarpur Corridor; Guru Nanak; Imran Khan; Navjot Sidhu; diasporic Sikhs 1. Introduction In November 2018, the decision of the governments of Pakistan and India to open the Kartarpur Corridor across the river Ravi—linking Dera Baba Nanak Sahib (in India) and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur (in Pakistan)—marked the possible beginning of a new era of cooperation and a symbolic movement in the shared cultural history of the Punjab. The two historic gurdwaras are roughly six kilometers apart and share a connection to Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion, but the international border created by the partition of India in 1947 separated them, and simultaneously politicized their access.
    [Show full text]
  • Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development
    Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development Religion influences many people’s world views, lifestyles and engagement, making it a powerful force for individual and collective change. This book offers an insight into how religions and indigenous traditions from all over the world understand sustainable development and contribute to it. Its publication marks the launch of the new International Partnership on Religion and Sustainable Development (PaRD) during the international Berlin conference Partners for Change – Religions and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in February 2016. The PaRD aims to strengthen and institutionalise cooperation between governments, multilateral organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academia, and religious actors working in the fields of development, peace, interreligious dialogue and humanitarian assistance. Voices from Religions on Sustainable Development Contents 114 Introduction Gerd Müller Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development 116 Foreword His Holiness the 17th Gyalwang Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje 119 Foreword H. E. Horst Köhler Former Federal President of Germany 111 Voices from Religions 112 The Bahá’í Faith 124 Buddhism 134 Christianity 146 Confucianism 158 Daoism 170 Hinduism 184 Indigenous traditions: Lankuntuwakan, the Lenape way of life 196 Islam 108 Judaism 120 The Sikh Religion 135 Authors 159 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction Gerd Müller Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development With the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the international com- munity has charted a path to ensure that all human beings can live in dignity while respecting the limits of our planet. Yet, if we are to achieve the Sustain- able Development Goals set out in the Agenda, we will need to change how we think and act at all levels.
    [Show full text]