Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SUFISM (Contemporary Sufi spirituality of the middle classes - global forms and regional peculiarities)
Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2023-01-31
This research project has explored the doctrinal views and teaching styles of the most important Sufi authorities in contemporary Europe, who have also been studied in their transcontinental influences, especially in North Africa, the United States, India or Eastern Europe.
The central question was: What conceptions of God, the world, the human being, freedom, justice and social engagement do these Sufi authorities transmit in their teachings? The research was also intended to show how these conceptions are drawn upon by the Sufi teachers to respond to specific individual and societal demands and issues such as self-transformation, the protection of the environment, social peace or the implementation of human rights. I show that the kind of individual and social engagement called for is anchored in the basic philosophical-religious ideas of the respective Sufis. Last, I asked about the target audiences as well as about the form and social location of the teachings and showed the correlation of particular teaching positions, forms and target audiences.
Beyond the academic interest, it is important for society to have an orientation with regard to the still growing field of spiritual offerings in Europe of which Sufism is a part, and furthermore, it is significant to understand that identification with certain teaching positions often entails a certain kind of social engagement that results from those teachings, put simply: What I believe God and the human being are results in what kind of individual and societal transformation I believe in and what I have to do for it.
The central question was: What conceptions of God, the world, the human being, freedom, justice and social engagement do these Sufi authorities transmit in their teachings? The research was also intended to show how these conceptions are drawn upon by the Sufi teachers to respond to specific individual and societal demands and issues such as self-transformation, the protection of the environment, social peace or the implementation of human rights. I show that the kind of individual and social engagement called for is anchored in the basic philosophical-religious ideas of the respective Sufis. Last, I asked about the target audiences as well as about the form and social location of the teachings and showed the correlation of particular teaching positions, forms and target audiences.
Beyond the academic interest, it is important for society to have an orientation with regard to the still growing field of spiritual offerings in Europe of which Sufism is a part, and furthermore, it is significant to understand that identification with certain teaching positions often entails a certain kind of social engagement that results from those teachings, put simply: What I believe God and the human being are results in what kind of individual and societal transformation I believe in and what I have to do for it.
At the beginning of the project, I read more deeply into the writings and teachings of Sufi teachers in Europe, Morocco, and Indonesia, started an Indonesian language course online (conducted from February to June), and then finally made a selection of the seven most relevant and significant Sufi authors in various European contexts. The decision was taken to limit research to these European contexts, drawing, however parallels and showing differences with Middle class Sufism especially in the Maghreb countries and Indonesia. Over the time of the project, I intensively analyzed book publications, articles and YouTube videos of the mentioned Sufis (ca. 30 books, 10 articles, 100 videos) with regard to the above-mentioned questions. Texts and articles on the websites of the respective Sufis or their groups were also evaluated. Additionally, I undertook short field research visits and participated in Sufi retreats, workshops and seminars of Sufi authorities in various European contexts, where I further investigated the teaching positions of the Sufis (a total of 10 zoom seminars and, since the Covid restrictions were lifted, 4 physical field research visits). The data was completed by conducting about 10 interviews with Sufis or members and administrators of their groups, in various countries such as mainly Germany, France, England and Switzerland. In the course of the analytical work, I searched for the origins of the taught ideas and worked out a new way of structuring the field of Sufism in Europe. Finally, I began writing a monograph of which about 70 pages have already been written.
The result of the research is a new structuring of the field of Sufi teachings in Europe: We can distinguish between teachings with a neoplatonic focus (who put an emphasis on different levels of spiritual realization), with a transcendentalist focus (emphasis on the capacity of the individual to change external structures through inner change) and scripturalist teachings (focus on the need to follow Qur'anic revelation). As another main finding, I note that current Sufis teach a more socially engaged spirituality than in the past, and that the nature of social engagement ultimately depends on the nature of the underlying philosophical foundations (scripturalist-oriented Sufis follow the precepts of the Qur'an and Sunnah, on which they also build social and environmental projects; transcendentalist-oriented ones are inward-looking and seek to bring about change through meditation and inner work; neoplatonic ones, for example, can legitimize different forms of engagement depending on levels of spiritual development; but unite the more highly developed individuals to spread a spiritual humanism). Finally, I could find out that the transcendentalist and neoplatonic Sufis rather address well educated middle classes whereas some neoplatonic and scripturalist teachers have a more mixed audience. Tanscendentalist Sufis do not have a Sufi background, and they and some neoplatonic Sufis teach at different places and in different styles (academic presentations with a meditative character in yoga or retreat centers for example) from that of the more scripturalist (who tendentially, but not always teach in a more sermon-like character and besides interreligious or community centres in Sufi zawayas or sometimes even mosques).
I discussed the results in regular meetings with my supervisor and presented them at the Islamic Cultures and Societies Research Unit and the Center for Contemporary Religion in Aarhus a total of three times. In addition, I presented partial results in lectures at the conference of the European Association of the Study of Religion in Pisa in 2021 and the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism in Cork in 2022, and finally, I organized an international workshop in October 2022 in Aarhus, where we discussed the topic of Sufi teachings in a post-secular West intensively for two days. To disseminate the results outside the university, I gave a lecture for interested secondary school teachers in Aarhus.
The result of the research is a new structuring of the field of Sufi teachings in Europe: We can distinguish between teachings with a neoplatonic focus (who put an emphasis on different levels of spiritual realization), with a transcendentalist focus (emphasis on the capacity of the individual to change external structures through inner change) and scripturalist teachings (focus on the need to follow Qur'anic revelation). As another main finding, I note that current Sufis teach a more socially engaged spirituality than in the past, and that the nature of social engagement ultimately depends on the nature of the underlying philosophical foundations (scripturalist-oriented Sufis follow the precepts of the Qur'an and Sunnah, on which they also build social and environmental projects; transcendentalist-oriented ones are inward-looking and seek to bring about change through meditation and inner work; neoplatonic ones, for example, can legitimize different forms of engagement depending on levels of spiritual development; but unite the more highly developed individuals to spread a spiritual humanism). Finally, I could find out that the transcendentalist and neoplatonic Sufis rather address well educated middle classes whereas some neoplatonic and scripturalist teachers have a more mixed audience. Tanscendentalist Sufis do not have a Sufi background, and they and some neoplatonic Sufis teach at different places and in different styles (academic presentations with a meditative character in yoga or retreat centers for example) from that of the more scripturalist (who tendentially, but not always teach in a more sermon-like character and besides interreligious or community centres in Sufi zawayas or sometimes even mosques).
I discussed the results in regular meetings with my supervisor and presented them at the Islamic Cultures and Societies Research Unit and the Center for Contemporary Religion in Aarhus a total of three times. In addition, I presented partial results in lectures at the conference of the European Association of the Study of Religion in Pisa in 2021 and the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism in Cork in 2022, and finally, I organized an international workshop in October 2022 in Aarhus, where we discussed the topic of Sufi teachings in a post-secular West intensively for two days. To disseminate the results outside the university, I gave a lecture for interested secondary school teachers in Aarhus.
As a result of this project, I propose a new ordering of the field of Sufism in Europe. Existing typologies are mostly based on the relationship of a Sufi group to Islam and consequently distinguish between more Islamic and less Islamic Sufi groups. Existing studies are also mostly focused on the social functioning of the groupings and do not deal with the concepts taught, or only marginally. The results of this project thus go beyond the state of research in that they offer an accurate discussion and insights into the content of Sufi teachings, and in that they suggest an orientation that is not only based on the relationship to Islam (i.e. something that a Sufi group has or does not have), but towards a positive determination of contents and their origins. What is also new is the correlation of philosophical foundations from which the respective concepts of the human being, God, etc. emerge and the type of social engagement that is postulated here. Potentially, these results may have an impact on the perception of the arrangement of the field of Sufism in Europe in academic circles. However, it also has the potential to orient spiritual seekers and provide an aid to understanding for societal actors who are in contact with spiritual offerings professionally or privately. Precisely because the field of spiritual offerings is booming (and Sufi offerings, after all, strongly overlap in content with this general spiritual offering in our societies), it is central to accurately assess this offering in society.