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Philanthropy, Sufism and Legitimacy in the Medieval Islamic West: The Study of Zawiyas as a Socio-Religious Institution

Project description

A journey into Islamic heritage to discover the mysteries of the zawiya

In the heart of Islamic heritage lies a mystery often overlooked: the zawiya, a complex institution shaping the religious fabric of the Islamic West. Yet, its profound influence remains largely unexplored, hindered by stagnant perspectives and semantic ambiguity. With the support of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme, the Medi_Zawiya project rises to this challenge, delving into the social, political, and architectural dimensions of the zawiya. Led by institutions from Israel, Morocco, and Spain, this interdisciplinary endeavour seeks to unravel the evolving concept of the zawiya and its diverse manifestations. Through meticulous surveys and cross-cultural analyses, it aims to illuminate hidden histories and safeguard invaluable cultural treasures for generations to come.

Objective

This proposal aims to approach the social, political and architectural dimension of the zawiya. This is to say an Islamic institution linked to Sufism that has largely determined the religious life of the Islamic West since the Middle Ages. However, its study has not been sufficiently developed so far and it has only been approached on a few occasions from stagnant perspectives, which has limited the potential to advance in the knowledge of the medieval Muslim society.
In this respect, after some previous attempts, I have observed two relevant issues that require special attention. On the one hand, the concept of zawiya, unlike other institutions, has undergone an evolution throughout history and its current meaning cannot be extrapolated to past times. On the other hand, it seems to me that there is no single idea of zawiya and thereby we can reckon at least two different types that coexisted in the same space-time and whose purposes differ significantly from each other due to their sponsor (ruler/shaykh). Nevertheless, there are several inconveniences that may have limited the visibility of both issues up to now, representing thus a research challenge. In the first place, the semantic permeability of the term zawiya; secondly, the disappearance of the oldest examples; thirdly, the lack of coordination between documentary and material sources; and, finally, the absence of accurate planimetric documentation.
In short, this project suggests an interdisciplinary study on a group of examples that have been strategically selected to shed light on the above questions. To this end, after an in-depth architectural survey, various types of analysis and a confrontation with similar models and phenomena in the Middle East will be implemented. As host institutions, the UCM (Spain), the INSAP (Morocco) and the OUI (Israel) will provide an excellent framework. Likewise, it is expected a positive impact on the future conservation of some zawiyas of great historical-artistic value

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HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2023-PF-01

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Coordinator

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 165 312,96
Address
AVENIDA DE SENECA 2
28040 MADRID
Spain

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Region
Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
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Total cost

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